MATING season for snakes is here and during this time you are likely to see more of them around.
Some serpents are completely innocuous while others are not, that’s why professional snake catchers and handlers say having an expert handle relocation is important.
Kurt Whyte from Ipswich Snake Catchers said social media wasn’t the best place to turn to for advice when a snake is spotted on or nearby residential areas.
“There are plenty of people who think they know what they are doing when they really don’t,” he said.
“People are offering to remove them for $30 or $50 thinking they’re experts because they have pet snakes.
“We try to educate the public and if we catch a python for example, we let the kids hold them and spend time teaching them how to respect snakes.”
He said backyard catches were sometimes carried out by someone who had a one day course and didn’t truly understand how to catch and relocate snakes safely.
“We have been called to jobs where someone has obviously hit the snake with a broom, shovel or object of some description,” he explained
“We’ve come across plenty of snakes that have been cut and people tell us they didn’t do it, but we’ve been in the game long enough to know when it’s a cat or dog attack or done with a shovel.
“There are huge fines if you are caught [killing a snake] and I am forever on Facebook and in contact with wildlife authorities trying to crack down on that.”
It’s peak snake breeding season and that means males are competing for female partners.
“There are plenty of breeding pairs out there and males fighting,” he said.
“They intertwine and twist in a movement called combatting where they push each other’s heads to the ground.
“They fight like teenagers at a pub competing for a girl.”
Last week they were called to relocate a breeding pair mating in a vegetable garden.
“We caught them together and in one hand, then released them together, so that was a good one,” he recalled.
“Then we had a bad one, a big red belly was attacked by a dog.
“In these instances, people get the dog seen to and call a snake catcher to take care of the snake.
“We understand these altercations happen and can’t be helped but it’s what happens afterwards that matters.
“Please get the help the snake needs whether that’s rehabilitation or being humanely euthanised.”
The most common snake they’re relocating at the moment are eastern browns.
“When people have a snake on their property and phone us, we ask them to send us a photograph of it,” Kurt explained.
“Sometimes people send us a photo of a common tree snake thinking it is an eastern brown.
“When that happens, they are often happy to just let it be and move on when it wants to.”
Snakes are not aggressive, they’re defensive and Kurt wants people to understand the difference.
“As an example, a snake will never chase you across the road, jump up and attack you,” he said.
“That will never happen and if anyone could show me a video of a snake hunting them down and attacking them, I will pay millions.
“When people say the snake is aggressive, I ask what they were doing.
“They say, ‘I was pushing it into a corner with a broom’, well, if someone backs you into a corner and hits you with a broom, you’d be defensive too.”
Size doesn’t matter when it comes to snakes because some of the most venomous ones can deliver lethal doses when they are very young.
“We get a lot of fishing stories and when we catch a snake it’s not as big as described when they called us in,” he said.
“Once we catch it, we talk to them and try to change their mind through education.”
There is a place for almost every animal in the ecosystem and the role snakes play is in the elimination of vermin.
“Snakes are the cheapest and best pest control you’ll ever get,” he said.
“If we didn’t have them our mouse and rat population would be out of control.”
Eastern browns are the most common snake he gets called to relocate and a species many Australians fear.
“While the medical system is great here for them, you still don’t want to play around with them,” he said.
“If you have a snake on your property, try to take its photo and phone us.
“We know how to catch them without injuring them and the appropriate relocation areas.”
