Kevin Budden
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Kevin Clifford Budden, (1930-1950), was an Australian herpetologist who was fatally injured after capturing a taipan and receiving a lethal bite while trying to bag it.
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[edit] The Trip
In June 1950 Kevin began the long journey north from his native Sydney alone, confident that he would return with a taipan. Four weeks of tramping around in lush rainforest between Atherton and Millaa Millaa in the Tablelands had produced twenty-seven prime specimens, including several pythons and tree snakes that were sure to fetch a good price back home. Travelling to Cairns, he found accommodation at the Cairns Museum and planned a careful search of the local area.
Having acquainted himself with many people in the local area, Budden had heard dire warnings of the dangers presented by large brown snakes in the area from many quarters. Despite these words of caution, he remained determined to find a taipan, and capture it alive. After word reached him that a big brown snake had been killed under a house on the north-western outskirts of town, he became convinced that it was a taipan, and made plans to investigate.
Shortly before sunrise on the morning of 27 July 1950 the young collector set out from his lodgings in Cairns, walking along Sheridan Street (the main road north) to open scrub country bordering what is now Anderson Street, Manunda - one of the booming tropical city's busiest arterial roads servicing sprawling suburbs such as Manunda, Whitfield and Edge Hill.
Snake hunting is a slow and laborious task, requiring many hours of back-breaking work as each piece of suitable ground cover - rocks, logs, scrap iron and rubbish - is individually checked for specimens. At around ten o'clock, his meandering had brought him a few hundred yards to the west of the Edge Hill oil tanks at the base of Mt. Whitfield, with nothing more favourable than a dozen or so cane toads, some small lizards and a harmless water snake to show for his efforts. Disappointed, Budden was preparing to call it quits for the day when a piercing squeal emanating from a pile of rubbish nearby attracted his attention.
[edit] Success
Searching quickly through the loose rubble, his heart racing, Kevin uncovered the source of the noise. Beneath a sheet of discarded fibro., among a nest of twigs and grass stalks was a large brown snake - just now beginning to consume the female bush rat that the nest had contained. Shaking with excitement the wiry snakeman quickly moved to trap the startled snake by putting his boot firmly across its neck, prompting the enraged reptile to regurgitate its intended meal and thrash violently in a vain attempt to bite the attacker.
Carefully avoiding the deadly fangs, Kevin slipped his fingers around the snakes’ neck, keeping his boot in place until he was absolutely sure of the grip. Unable now to reach the sack on the ground beside him, he lifted the snake off the ground, allowing it to twist its body in his hands as it endeavoured to pull free. With no way to secure the reptile, he opted instead to walk with it along the bush track that led to the Edge Hill road, hoping that once there, someone might come along to assist him.
Reaching the road just before 10.30 a.m., his luck continued to hold when a passing truck slowed and stopped just down the road, before steadily reversing back to where he stood with his prize.
Relieved beyond belief, and suffering from tightly cramped fingers - the result of the awkward grip on the snakes' neck - Budden climbed into the truck, introduced himself to Jim Harris, the driver, and explained his strange catch. Harris recoiled in his seat with fear. Quickly explaining that his hold was still good and that the snake would be vital to research, Budden asked to be taken into Edge Hill to the home of a local snake catcher who could identify his find and help bag it safely away.
[edit] Disaster
On arrival, Mr Stephens, the snake expert, promptly confirmed that the snake was a taipan, and sent his wife off in search of a suitable bag. Jim Harris remembers that Budden's hand was quite liberally coated with saliva and other fluid from the snake's mouth. At this point Budden's previously tenacious grip failed, and in a moment of distraction as the snake was being lowered into the bag, it promptly wrenched free. In two lightning-fast strikes itsucceeded in fastening itself very firmly onto his left hand. Although this movement caused Budden to drop the snake in surprise, he recovered quickly and recaptured the snake, after which it was safely bagged.
While Stephens ran to the house to telephone ambulance bearers, Harris implored Kevin to apply a ligature to the arm and scarify the wounds on his hand. After applying a rope ligature, Budden refused the suggestions of Stephens and Harris to scarify the wound, claiming that snake 'fright' was more a problem than the actual venom, and it was only after promising not to harm the snake that Jim Harris was able to load Budden and his catch into the truck again, and race off toward town, meeting the ambulance on the way. While he was being transferred into the ambulance, the victim begged Jim to look after the snake, and see it safely into the hands of others who would ensure that it would be safely transported south to researchers. Even though he would have happily seen the reptile destroyed on the spot, the driver agreed; true to his word, Harris kept the snake locked in his truck until the next day. Meanwhile, ambulance bearers applied further first aid before setting off at speed for the Base Hospital, with beacons flashing red and klaxon wailing.
Twenty-seven hours later, Kevin Budden died. His disregard for his own safety and single-minded determination to have the live snake retained for research work had cost him his life. With no effective anti-venom therapy available, the battle was lost from the moment the snake struck. All efforts by medical staff at Cairns Base Hospital failed, and he died at 1.30 p.m., on 28 July 1950.
