This was published 8 years ago
Queensland snake catchers kept busy during mating season
By Kristian Silva
It's been a busy time for South-East Queensland's snake catchers with the reptiles' mating season in full swing.
Some jobs have been challenging, with snakes slithering into hard-to-reach places.
Sunshine Coast catcher Richie Gilbert said his company was called out to 146 jobs in October. In one case 10 brown tree snakes managed to find their way into a Maleny roof.
"They're a species that don't mind each other's company and will actually shelter together in shelter sites and being that it is spring there's probably a couple of mature females amongst that lot and they've attracted the males," he said.
Dangerous eastern Brown snakes are commonly found in Queensland.Credit: Richie Gilbert
"We had a bunch of males chasing after a female, is the most likely situation there."
Mr Gilbert's colleague Ross McGibbon showed off his snake catching skills recently while trying to coax an eastern brown out from between a set of glass and sliding doors.
Meanwhile in Chapel Hill, snake catcher Bryan Robinson was called to an unusual job where a carpet python was caught in toilet plumbing.
"Snakes move around with intention to get from A to C, this particular point happened to be B. He's most likely gone down through there possibly through possibly a busted vent on the pipe," he said.
A blocked toilet led to a call-out for a plumber. Shortly after, snake catcher Bryan Robinson was called.
Mr Robinson said carpet pythons, common tree snakes, yellow face whip snakes and eastern browns were the species he regularly encountered.
"The most common snake is the carpet python - he's large, he's bold, he's obvious. Their numbers are very high in suburban situations, right into the heart of the city," he said.
10 snakes were located in one roof by snake catcher Ross McGibbon.
Mr Gilbert said it was near impossible to prevent snakes from getting into roofs, but people could take precautions to prevent them from seeking refuge in backyards.
"Keep your yard well-maintained, grass kept short, holes under concrete slabs filled in, in and around retaining wall, don't keep anything on the ground snakes can hide under," he said.
According to the Queensland Department of Environment, there are about 120 snake species in Queensland. About two-thirds are venemous.