Double the trouble
Catchers have hands full with two monster Speewah scrub pythons
Speewah has emerged as a hotbed for monster snakes with two 5m scrub pythons caught at separate locations in as many days. On Friday, well-mannered snake catchers from the Australian Venom Zoo waited two hours for a python to finish its meal of a wallaby at a home in the leafy suburb near Cairns. “We were called out to move it off the property because the owner had chickens and small dogs,” said venomous-animals expert Stuart Douglass.
SPEEWAH has emerged as a hotbed for monster snakes with two 5m scrub pythons caught at separate locations in as many days.
On Friday, well-mannered snake catchers from the Australian Venom Zoo waited two hours for a python to finish its meal of a wallaby at a home in the leafy suburb near Cairns.
“We were called out to move it off the property because the owner had chickens and small dogs,” said venomous-animals expert Stuart Douglass.
“We moved it to a place where it could digest its meal and have a happy life.
“We’re always concerned it’s going to regurgitate but this one didn’t ...
“It’s really important for them to get one really good meal at least once a year – big snakes need to eat a lot of food.”
At 2am Saturday, snake catchers were called to another Speewah property where they found a 5.1m python with an appetite for duck.
“The python was searching the perimeter of the duck enclosure trying to get in and the ducks were making a serious racket,” said Cairns Snake Catchers owner Matt Hagan.
“The owner came down and there was a huge python trying to push the fence in.
“It had bush ticks all around its eyes, so we brought it back to Cairns to remove them all.”
The 27kg snake was released in Barron Gorge National Park on Saturday.
Mr Hagan said it was unusual but not unheard of to have two big captures in the same area so close together.
“The bigger ones have better chance of surviving there than in suburban Cairns where they have to cross roads all the time,” he said.
“October is a very busy time for snake catchers generally.
“We sometimes get these clusters of activity in certain suburbs, I’m not exactly sure why but it does happen.”
Cairns is currently ranked third in the state for snake bites, with up to two people a week being treated by paramedics. Both snake catchers urged residents to leave the reptiles alone where possible.
“Most people getting bitten are trying to capture or kill it,” said Mr Douglass.
“If you leave those two out of the equation, you will lead a long and happy life with venomous animals.”