The warmer weather brings out self-amputation, blood sucking, snakes, snake wrestling, and Towser the snake-killer, which are all part of the fascinating history of snake attacks on Queensland’s Darling Downs. I told this story live on radio 4WK.

There have been loads of scary stories like in 1926 when Mrs. John Allman of Warwick actually wrestled a snake at her home on a Sunday afternoon. While sitting on the back veranda she felt a weight fall on her shoulders, and immediately her neck was wrapped by a deadly brown snake. It was a big one at five feet long, and without warning had fallen from a grape vine. Mrs. Allman was made of stern stuff – her husband was John Allman the mayor of Warwick – and so she threw the snake off and despatched it with a hoe.

The Eastern Brown Snake has the second deadliest venom in the world, next only to the Inland Taipan, so Mrs Allman really did survive a wrestle to the death.

 More bravery came in 1931 by a fourteen-year-old Warwick boy by the name of John Bacon. He was bitten on the first finger of his hand by a brown snake. It buried its fangs in his finger and didn’t let go until it was flung some distance in the air. Without hesitation young Bacon then cut his finger off with an axe that he was carrying. He then tied a piece of string tightly found the wrist and raced home where he was successfully treated.  His father was I think The Rev. Robert Bacon who later disappeared down a mine shaft.

And then there are some people who never learn, like the parents of eight-year-old Thomas Hockings. In 1930 he was living with his parents in a tent in a construction camp on the main Stanthorpe to Warwick road. Young Thomas was walking outside of the tent when he was bitten on the leg by a brown snake. This was the second time he’d been bitten in a similar manner in the space of nine months.

Thomas survived the attacks, but others were not so lucky. One of the earliest recorded snake attacks on the Downs came 1864 when James Lovett was riding from Warwick to Glengallen station. On the way he dismounted and no sooner had he got off his horse than a large black snake flew at him. Lovett took a swing but missed, and the snake bit him under the knee. He jumped back on his horse and galloped to the station, where he presented his open knife to the overseer and told him to cut the poisoned piece out of his leg.

This was duly done, an indigenous station hand sucked about a pint of blood from the wound, Dr. Frederick Margetts formerly of the East India Company arrived from Warwick, but Lovett still died about an hour later. This was the same James Lovett who just five months earlier had been fined five shillings for his horse depositing manure on North Quay in Brisbane.

A more recent snake bite death in Warwick came in 1921 when Mrs Eva Wickham of Greymare, west of Warwick, was in her chook yard when she was attacked and bitten by a brown snake. She died.

Possibly as a result of Mrs Wickham’s death, Warwick’s greatest ever snake-killer was then brought to Greymare. His name was Towser. Towser, the snake-killing dog. He was lauded as Towser the Terror. He accounted for hundreds of snakes in his ten-year career, including tiger snakes, death adders, the lot. His record was twenty-one kills in the one season. Towser’s last victory came in 1936 when he attacked an exceptionally large black snake, an enormous tussle took place which ended with the death of the snake. Towser the next day, however, was found dead a short distance from his home. Towser gave his life – and saved Greymare.

One of the sadder deaths from snake bite came in 1934 at Swan Creek east of Warwick. It was there that a pretty damsel, pregnant, and with a young boy by her side, was bitten by a snake and died. It was an awful tragedy, particularly for Warwick’s mayor Mr John Allman, whose wife had wrestled the five-foot brown stake off her shoulders.  You see “Pretty Damsel” was Mr Allman’s prize racehorse, and quite a valuable one too because she had won the Warwick Cup. His Pretty Damsel was killed the same year that he was presented to the Duke of Gloucester.

So with the weather warming up, please be careful of snakes because you don’t want to be wrestling one, sucking blood, amputating something, or relying on the ghost of Towser the snake-killing dog, that wouldn’t be good.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A VERSION OF THIS STORY TOLD ON RADIO 4WK.

Photo credits:
After dark snake wrestling 2015 – Harold Peacock.
John Allman mayor of Warwick, presented to the Duke of Gloucester 1934 – University of Queensland.
Doctor Frederick Margetts of Warwick driving a horsedrawn buggy c1890 – State Library of Queensland.
Pretty Damsel number 6 – Telegraph, Brisbane, 26th January 1932, page 10.