A snake catcher’s encounter with an “anaconda”-sized snake this week is a gentle reminder that while winter has arrived, the snakes of the region have not departed.
Luke Huntley was called out to Black Mountain on Wednesday to relocate what the resident described as a “big snake” that had made herself at home on their balcony.
“I got there and it was more like something out of Anaconda,” he said.
“It wasn’t the longest snake, but it was so fat and so chunky.
“You know whatever it’s eating, it’s eating really, really well.”
Related story: Snake catcher’s find that will make your skin crawl
But gauging the exact girth of the snake proved a little difficult for the experienced snake catcher.
“I’m quite tall and I’ve got really big hands, so my hands going around the snake did not even go halfway around it. It was a huge animal,” he said.
“I was so excited, honestly it was awesome. I haven’t had that much fun out on a snake call for ages.”
The Noosa snake catcher believed the coastal carpet python had eaten either a big possum or a small wallaby or joey.
He said the very old female was a returning visitor to the home, but this year she’d gotten “a bit big”.
“The lady at the house really didn’t want it around anymore because her bedroom door is literally two meters away from where the snake was sleeping,” he said.
“She was actually not too bad with it … a lot of people who live in the bush tend to be a bit more okay with snakes, just because of the frequency – they kind of get used to them.
“Most of the time people call me and say ‘it’s a big snake’ and then I get there and it’s not – this one definitely didn’t fail to deliver though.”
Related story: Snake catcher tells monster tale of huge encounters
He said it wasn’t the biggest snake he had captured, and shared how he’d relocated another mammoth python on the other side of the mountain about six years ago.
“It wasn’t bigger by much though,” he said.
“Wednesday’s catch was well over three metres – I didn’t get the tape measure out though, I just wanted to get her back out into the bush.
“When they get to that age and they are that old, I don’t like to muck around for too long. I like to give them the respect they need.”
While snakes are not as active during the colder months, he said they were definitely still around and with this season being more mild than usual people could expect to see them.
“On the first day of winter I had five jobs,” he said.
“During winter they come out of places they are sleeping at night, like roofs, and get comfy in a certain spot to sun themselves. You can find them on log piles, stumps, sheds and roofs – basically anywhere that is warm and dry.
“They don’t actually hibernate, they do what’s called brumation.
“They brumate, so they are a lot less interested in getting a meal and more interested in regulating their body temperature.”
Luke the snake catcher reminded anyone who encountered a snake to not panic, remain calm and if they were uncomfortable with the snake around, to call a local snake catcher.
Local journalists supporting local people. Help keep independent and fair Sunshine Coast news coming by subscribing to our FREE daily news feed. All it requires is your name and email at the bottom of this article.
