by site editor Rick McCharles
Clayton Kessler of TracksAndTrails.ca posted an interview with Frank Wall, author of the Guide to Planning the Overland Track eBook.
Frank edits the often hilarious Our Hiking Blog, as well.
I’m a fan of both those sites and subscribe by RSS.
The Overland Track is one of our top 10 hikes in the world.
I was on Tasmania for only 2wks yet saw many poisonous snakes. I’m interested in how a Tassie vet like Frank assesses that risk:
Can you share any unique encounters with wild animals?
We don’t really have “wild” animals like bears in Australia. We do have lots of tiger snakes that can kill you. In Tasmania they are quite common and you learn to keep an eye out for them. They love to lie along the side of trail and bask in the sun. I always keep my eyes out for them and wear gaiters to at least protect my legs. The snakes, fortunately, are more scared of us then we are of them and usually disappear quickly. Bites are usually caused when someone (i.e. an idiot) tries to catch or kill one, which is illegal as they are protected species. …
read the entire interview on TracksAndTrails.ca
Frank has a new post discussing whether or not his favourite trail is getting too crowded …
… number of walkers had been trending up from 6360 in 2005-2006 to 7024 in 2008-2009 …
Click through to read his opinion – The Overland Track – hiking solo in season? Not likely
besthike.com 
Nice post, I think it is time to interview you now, eh? Drop me a line if you are interested!
Hi Rick,
Don’t think anyone has actually died of a Tiger Snake bite in Australia for a few years but it is a great way to scare people. I should have mentioned “Drop Bears”, the rather large and aggressive cousin of the Koala Bear. While difficult to find, you REALLY don’t want to come across one down here. Extremely dangerous and aggressive. I actually think there is a government cover up about them because if people actually knew what a risk they were, they would never travel “down under”.
Thanks for the great post and insights. Forget Clay, I want the interview! (btw, next week you can read Clay’s interview at Our Hiking Blog – fascinating stuff.)
Living in New Zealand, I learned all about “Drop Bears”.
I was told to hike with an umbrella as they would not drop if I had the protection above.
… Clayton already interviewed me TODAY. Coming out next week.
🙂