 Often bitten, never shy
Neville Burns has been bitten twelve times during his long
love-affair with the reptiles, and uses the full range of his experience
to give lectures to people at risk of meeting a snake unexpectedly. He
sets up an enclosed area and one by one, brings out four snakes so
people can identify their individual characteristics.
 His entire forefinger on his right hand was amputated after he was
bitten. “They fought for about six weeks to save it and in the end it
had to go,” Neville said. “It was either that or the hand.” But that
wasn’t his worst experience. When he was 18, a Brown Snake he’d been
holding by the tail turned and bit him in the face. He was rushed to
hospital where he was given anti-venom.
“They gave me three lots, and each time they gave it to me my heart
stopped. They restarted my heart and gave me adrenaline. I was on life
support for seven days. “I was declared clinically dead three times and
was paralysed for nine weeks on one side of my body.” Doctors discovered
he was allergic to anti-venom, which is a bit of a handicap for a snake
handler.
First out of his snake bag is a Red Bellied Black Snake. A Brown
Snake is the final guest at Neville’s show. It’s one of the most common
snakes in Australia, and is the second most venomous in the world.
Neville’s advice is to stay still if a snake is nearby, as most will
only attack if they feel threatened. He also recommends that you don’t
pick one up by the tail.
Kids’ chef serves up treat for fussy lemur
 Baby lemur Smeagol at Chessington Zoo is so picky he had to have a
special festive feast whipped up for him by chef Annabel Karmel. Like
the typical “difficult” child, the five-month old lemur refuses to eat
his vegetables. So Mrs Karmel was drafted in to ensure he eats his
Christmas dinner. “He’s quite fussy, like most kids,” she said. “He
doesn’t like vegetables but likes fruit. The trouble with him is that he
is fickle - one day he likes something and the next day he won’t eat
it.”
Mrs Karmel, who cooks for her own pet dogs - a two-year-old golden
retriever named Oscar and a one-year-old Samoyed called Hamilton – said
the way to entice a fussy eater was to make something which ‘looked
fun’.
The mother of three, who has written 20 books on cooking for
children, combined a selection of fresh and dried fruits and fashioned
them into a reindeer shape. When she presented Smeagol with her
creation, he leapt on his meal. “When we made him something fun, he got
very excited…He started to pick all the bits off it and then demolished
the lot.”
Caption: Five-month-old Smeagol has to double in size before he is
fully grown
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