Snakes alive and loving the warmth
WARM days that have arrived with the first flush of spring have snakes on the move at least a month earlier this year.
Snake catchers have reported fielding an unusually high rate of call-outs.
Bill Pledger, of Cooroy, who combines his snake catching hobby/business with a day job as a bookkeeper and office administrator, said in the past couple of weeks he had to retrieve a red belly black snake from a daycare centre in Gympie and a coastal carpet python from another at Yandina.
On Tuesday, he was called by shocked homeowners to remove mating pythons from the house.
"Normally at this time of year you don't see them," he said.
"They come out in late September or early October."
"The basic rule is don't touch, don't approach. Just back away slowly and call an expert."
He said councils, National Parks, police and Wilvos all had the numbers of a network of snake catchers who worked on the Sunshine Coast.
"Don't try to identify them (snakes) yourself and don't try to relocate them," Bill said.
"In the 15 years I've been doing this I've found that if you treat them with respect and leave them alone, they'll just go off and do their own thing."
