Rod Somerville explains his thought process: ‘If I’m going to cark it I’m going to have a beer’ (Picture: Allan Reinikka)

Fearing the worst after being bitten by one of the world’s deadliest snakes, Aussie bloke Rod Somerville’s first reaction was to grab a cold beer from the fridge.

The 54-year-old had been doing a spot of gardening at his home in Yeppoon when he was bitten on the finger by a 2.5ft eastern brown snake.

‘If you panic it makes it worse,’ Rod explained to the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin.

‘I said to myself, “if I’m going to cark it I’m going to have a beer”, so I got a Goldie [XXXX Gold] out of the fridge and drank that,’ he added.




Considered to be the world’s second most poisonous land snake, eastern browns are responsible for more deaths in Australia than any other group of snakes.

After giving the snake a ‘whack on the head’ (and grabbing his tinny), Rod waited calmly for an ambulance.

But the ordeal wasn’t over, after suffering an allergic reaction to the anti-venom he had to spend a further four days in intensive care with kidney problems.

Still in hospital after three weeks, the Queenslander acknowledges how close he was to death: ‘The reaction nearly killed me as well, so it was a double-whammy.’