It might look like this snake is hoarding bread rolls that fell off the Christmas table, but her stash is more important than leftovers.
The python is keeping her eggs warm in a garden in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
Snake Catcher Dan, otherwise known as Dan Busstra, who regularly posts videos of his catches, was sent a video of the snake on her eggs by one of his social media followers.
The video shows the python move around to cloak the eggs by forming a tidy pattern with her body, using her head to fill the last gap.
Mr Busstra said snakes could lay from seven up to 50 eggs, which could take up to 10 to 15 weeks to hatch.
He said the python in the video had been on the eggs for about nine weeks and would likely have done little else in that time other than try to maintain their temperature.
“So, she’s probably had nothing to eat, nothing to drink for nine weeks. She’s going to the sun, warming her body and then coming back and transferring that heat to the eggs,” he said.
“What snakes do depends on the situation. Sometimes they lay their eggs in the sun and have to keep them cool, sometimes they lay them somewhere cool and have to keep them warm.”
Mr Busstra advised anyone who found a snake on eggs to leave her to it.
“A lot of things eat baby snakes. At the end of the day, maybe one or two will survive,” he said.
“A lot of the time, people are worried that they’re going to end up with a lot of snakes around if they hatch.
“Snakes aren’t territorial. They move around for food or water or mating. There’s no reason to think that because you’ve got a nest, that you’re going to have snakes on your property.”
He said a lot of snakes were on the move at the moment, looking to feed after having been searching for mates during the breeding system or after sitting on a nest.
He recently relocated a red-bellied black snake that had decided to hide in a broom cupboard after coming face to face with an occupant of the home in a hallway.
