Queensland fanged / Newspaper caught short .
On the first day of the election campaign , after snake-oil salesman Scott Morrison fired the starting gun, Townsville residents woke unaware that the area was under attack - by snakes !
How come ? Tucked away at the bottom of page 14 in the Townsville Bulletin , was the following oddly written , short , single column report about three people having been bitten by snakes, two during the night ,one on Magnetic Island ,over the weekend .
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But then the front page was taken up with photos of ScoMo and Albert Albanese and an advertisement for Clive Palmer's United Australia, the mad as a cut snake outfit that wants Craig Kelly to be PM!!!
Why not run the snake story on page two or three ? Not possible because both those pages were advertisements for Sky News and Fox coverage of the election .
So the inadequate snake story got tucked away on P14 .
According to the report ,the first bite took place just before 2am on Saturday . The victim, "a male " in his 20s, was taken to the Magnetic Island Health Service Clinic .
The second fanging happened about 1.45am on Sunday at suburban Kelso, the victim , no mention of gender or age , taken to Townsville University Hospital .
Later that morning , another person of unknown gender and age , was bitten ,taken to the hospital .
In respect of the Magnetic IsIand attack , it seems the patient may have been evacuated by helicopter as shortly after 4am on Saturday residents at Nelly Bay were disturbed when one flew in , flooded the area with light as if a police raid , landed , took off soon after .
There are many angles that should have been followed up as the initial report was so poor . How are the patients, what kind of snakes bit them , should locals wear protective Wellington boots and carry sticks when they walk about late at night , what makes news at The Bulletin , is North Queensland being invaded by deadly Black Mambas , etc.
Following the attacks , Little Darwin asked the Magnetic Island postman if he had come under snake attack during his rounds . No, but he had seen three snakes in six months .
This blog was informed a Scrub Python swallowed a chook on the island .Another two Children's Pythons have been seen nearby . A snake got inside a birdcage and swallowed the occupants . And a Death Adder was spotted some weeks ago .
