A huge python has been extricated from a truck in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.
The unlikely passenger was gently pulled from a hauler in the Glass House Mountains by Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers handler Heather McMurray.
It was a longer-than-usual python, at about 3.2m, but way thicker than most.
“He got himself wrapped around a few pipes and things under the truck and it took us a while to get him out,” Ms McMurray said.
The truckie first noticed the snake, before the expert was called in.
“The driver was just unloading some stuff from the truck and he saw it stick its head out,” Ms McMurray said.
“We’re not sure where it came from.
“We think it had been for a drive but where and when he got in, it’s impossible to say.”
The snake had a full stomach.
“The truck was in a lumber yard so there were probably rodents around and he probably had a bit of a feed and hopped in the truck, which had been running and was nice and warm,” she said.
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“He was very chunky, very wide.
“He’s obviously been feeding in a good paddock and has probably had a few possums and maybe the odd cat along the way. He’s very well fed.”
Ms McMurray said it was relatively difficult to reel the reptile in.
“I had to do the head grab, which we don’t like doing too often, because the snakes don’t like it,” she said.
“It doesn’t hurt them … but that’s how we had to get him out.
“We found a really good spot to release him, where there is plenty for him to eat.”
She said it was likely a senior snake.
“I’d say he’s been around for a while and could be 15 to 20 years old,” she said.
“We’ve found a nice spot in the bush for him and hopefully he’ll have a few more years yet.”
Pythons generally live for 12 to 15 years.
Ms McMurray said there were stacks of snakes on the Sunshine Coast at the start of breeding season.
“The season has kicked off with a hiss this year,” she said.
“It’s like it just happened overnight. There’s a huge number of snakes on the move. We (snake handlers) have back-to-back jobs.
“We (Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers) are probably attending 30 to 40 calls all over the Sunshine Coast each day.”
Ms McMurray said pythons were common sights, particularly in forested areas like Buderim, while brown snakes were “just starting to come out”.
“They like the hot and dry weather,” she said.
She expected a bumper snake breeding season.
“Normally, things really kick off in the first week of September but it’s happened a week or two earlier this year and it’s happened in force,” she said.
“They’ve come out quickly.
“I think we’re going to have a very busy summer, because I think it’s going to be quite warm. The snakes, especially pythons, really like heat and humidity.
“We haven’t even got the humidity yet: it’s still coming. So, I think we’re going to get busier.”
