A LOCAL snake catcher is warning residents to take care after he removed two deadly brown snakes from a backyard shed in Swan Hill within 24 hours this week.
In what he described as an exceptionally rare event for this time of year, Greg Keyes said he was called to a home on Nalder Drive on Tuesday to remove a 1.5m male found coiled up under a roll of carpet in a shed.
The very next morning the homeowners called him back to remove a second snake, an aggressive pregnant female around the same size, from under some pavers nearby.
“It’s very unusual,” he said. “I’ve never had a call out at this time of year — let alone for two snakes.
“When they’re together like this — especially because the female is pregnant — they are usually a mating pair.”
“Both of these were pretty angry, but the female was particularly aggressive as she’s pregnant…”
Mr Keyes, an experienced snake handler from Ultima, said the incident was a timely reminder that snakes did sometimes hibernate in residential areas over winter.
“Snakes often go into dry, protected areas such as sheds and woodpiles to hibernate for the winter — and there are a lot of people in Swan Hill with woodfires and woodpiles,” he said.
He warned that brown snakes, the second most venomous in the world, were “pretty nasty” when woken up from hibernation.
“Both of these were pretty angry, but the female was particularly aggressive as she’s pregnant,” he said.
He said the best thing to do on the discovery of a snake was to leave it well alone and call in the experts.
“My wife and I relocate snakes as a courtesy to the public — all we ask is a small donation to go towards the local Lions Club,” he said.
“We relocate them to a native bushland area 10km outside Ultima — far enough away from residential areas so they don’t get killed.
“That’s when people get bitten — when they try to kill them.
“Unlike tiger snakes, brown snakes are not very aggressive and will usually try to escape. But if they have nowhere to go they will strike.”
Mr Keyes said it would still be another couple of months until snakes started emerging from hibernation in Victoria.
“The snake season started a bit earlier last year, but usually it’s around late September.”
