A brief reprieve from the rain with a sparkle of sunshine in New South Wales is inviting some slippery creatures into homes and backyards.
One of them, Matt Stopford, removed a diamond python from a West Gosford home just this morning and says his workload is increasing every day.
Stopford said he’s averaging about six calls a day to remove snakes from homes or backyards.
“At the moment they’re just coming out of torpor, they’re starting to warm up and they’re getting on the move and starting to look for mates and food,” Stopford said.
Stopford may make it look easy to retrieve snakes from residential areas and return them to nature but he warned residents not to handle the reptiles themselves, no matter where they area.
“If you do see a snake keep your eyes on it, just stay back and watch it from a distance and keep so if it does move we know exactly where it goes, call a snake catcher and get them to relocate it for you,” he said.
If the poisonous or slippery tendency of snakes doesn’t turn residents off trying to catch them, the fine surely will.
“Catching or killing a snake in NSW without a licence can incur a fine of up to $10,000 and or ten years in prison,” Stopford warned.
As the number of snakes slithering in our backyards increases, a warning has also been issued to keep your pets safe.
A cattle dog recently needed a transfusion and anti-venom after a run-in with a red belly black snake.
“Often they have some signs immediately after they’re bitten, they might vomit, they might collapse, sometimes they’ll seem like they’re not quite right,” Natasha Evans from Animal Referral Hospital Gosford said.
Professionals say keeping animals out of dense bushland can lower the risk of an unwanted encounter.
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