‘TIS THE SEASON TO SLITHER
Catchers relocating up to 10 snakes a day
As the weather warms up, snake catcher Tony Harrison and his family are busy catching and relocating up to 10 snakes a day around the Gold Coast.
WATCH out, watch out, snakes are about.
As the weather warms up, snake catcher Tony Harrison and his family are busy catching and relocating up to 10 snakes a day around the Gold Coast.
“It’s that time of the year where we don’t get lots of sleep, the whole family catches together and plenty of snakes are nocturnal,” Mr Harrison said.
“Yesterday I caught four before 8am. When there’s a low pressure system coming through, reptiles seem to know, whether they’re breeding or laying eggs, it seems to amplify it, it’s like our New Year’s.
“We’re getting carpet pythons, red-bellied blacks, brown and green tree snakes, small-eyed snakes.”
Mr Harrison said there were about 21 different species of snake that called the Gold Coast home and he was finding most of them now during his daily adventures.
Among them, Mr Harrison recounted a recent experience at northern suburb Woongoolba.
He said he and wife Brooke had been called to a boat builder’s yard to rescue an eastern brown snake in a water well.
And while this potentially deadly snake was safely caught and relocated, Mr Harrison said it was the height which concerned him more than the snake.
“I’m a bit scared of heights,” he said.
“I had to climb down a ladder to get an eastern brown snake.
“I had to stand on the bottom rung and get back up the ladder with it. But I was more worried about the water. It was very, very tight and confined, I was hoping the eastern brown was tired out from swimming.”
Mr Harrison said Pimpama appeared to be the area to watch, with up to three times as many snakes being caught in the area.
While neighbouring suburb Yatala was where his business was primarily located, Mr Harrison said “violent development” of the area meant a lot of snakes were on the move.
“They’re under a log one day and a bulldozer’s there the next,” he said.
Mr Harrison said locals could avoid snakes at their property and home by simply keeping it clear of rubbish.
He said snakes needed refuge and food, and homes with a lot of debris like railway sleepers or palm fronds attracted prey foods and snakes.
“If you leave crap lying around, they will start to come,” he said.