The Chronicle

Snake catcher’s dangerous find

- Meghan Harris meghan.harris@thechronic­le.com.au

IN all the years snake catcher Christian Andersen has been working, he has never had a more dangerous catch.

The South Burnett snake catcher and his trainee Darryl Robinson were called out to a regular client’s home between Nanango and Yarraman last Thursday.

When Mr Andersen got the call he could tell the woman was upset and frightened of the snake lurking in her kitchen.

He knew the distress was warranted as he had caught two large brown snakes at her property last year.

When they arrived at the home, they could hear noise behind the kitchen bench and using the telescopic light on the inspection camera Mr Robinson slid the device behind the bench and got the fright of his life.

A six foot brown snake was staring right at the camera.

“Darryl decided to go under the house to see if there were any escape routes and found a centimetre gap where the brown snake climbed up through the floor boards. It’s where rats were chewing their way into the house,” Mr Andersen said.

“The brown snake obviously wasn’t impressed with Darryl’s presence and attempted to strike his face but thankfully he was just out of reach.

“Even though I didn’t want to bag it under the house we both knew that that was going to have to happen and the snake didn’t make it any easier for me.”

Mr Andersen hooked part of its tail and grabbed him in one swift movement.

“He was trying to get away but I wasn’t going to let go, even when his head spun around from the other side. Thankfully Darryl got his attention away from my hand.”

“They don’t stay big by being stupid. They’re an extremely intelligen­t species.

“It’s definitely my most dangerous and interestin­g capture to date.”

Mr Andersen relocates the snakes to a safe and suitable habitat within their natural geographic area.

South Burnett Snake Catchers is available for call outs 24/7.

For more informatio­n phone 0435 736 924.

❝ They don’t stay big by being stupid. They’re an extremely intelligen­t species.

— Christian Andersen

 ?? PHOTO: BELINDA KRANZ ?? DANGEROUS CATCH: Christian Andersen with the six foot brown snake he relocated from a property between Nanango and Yarraman.
PHOTO: BELINDA KRANZ DANGEROUS CATCH: Christian Andersen with the six foot brown snake he relocated from a property between Nanango and Yarraman.

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