Thanks for that. Actually the thought of carrying even two bandages is not a bad idea at all. Sometimes you can be bitten on the arm and perhaps the leg - so carrying two would be appropriate (or should that be four - one for each limb).
I spend a lot of time in the country and we have some of the 'best' species of snakes - tigers, blacks, copperheads. Sometimes it's hard to tell them apart as the tigers can vary from being highly banded and pale coloured, to dark and difficult to distinguish from black snakes. Then the red-bellied blacks can also vary by having white bellies at times. The copperheads - they are fairly small by comparison and you always look for the distinct head - to ensure it isn't possibly an eastern brown.
I couldn't begin to tell you how many encounters I've had with snakes - sometimes while walking, sometimes while sitting and at other times while horseriding. I usually prefer to see them before they see me - but that isn't always the case.
The blacks don't worry me as they will disappear, the copperheads are pretty much the same. The tigers, however, seem to have an arrogance all of their own. They will remain in position and, to put a human characteristic to it - stand their ground (yes I know - they don't have legs). This is perhaps the most unnerving species for me as I really don't want to mess with them.
They can be beautiful to watch when they gracefully move in water though - again, so long as I'm not swimming nearby.
Oh... and we have scorpions too - but that's a different subject.
