Australia

Amid the photos of catastrophe, despair and destruction that beset the eastern state of Queensland, computer technician Armin Gerlach snapped the green frog hitching a ride on the back of a brown snake through the floodwaters near Brisbane.

But animals – for example snakes – have been causing a completely new fear as the snakes have been swimming through the water (joining the people in their search for high ground away from the floods). There have been warnings issued about snakes swimming through the waters, as some are extremely venomous.

Kevin Lucas, the safety officer at the Rockhampton airport, told people that he and other employees have disposed of 40 snakes.

Most were brown snakes, the world's second-deadliest land snake, but one appeared to be a taipan, the deadliest.

One bite from a taipan delivers enough venom to kill around 100 people. Also it strikes without warning, not once, but several times, injecting a venom that clots blood and can kill in minutes.

Some official information about the snakes: Ken Winkel, head of the Australian Venom Research Unit, told Time magazine brown snakes have less fear of people and are more aggressive. Taipan bites, on the other hand, are more likely to be fatal because of their long fangs.

Also it has been reported that people have been using large pipes and sticks whilst walking through water in an attempt to stay safe from the snakes – using them to brush the snakes away through the water.

By Matthew Gray