A snake wrangler has issued a warning to Australian families after a red-bellied black snake entered a family’s home through a toilet.
The family called Narellan Snake Catcher Daniel May to their home in Rossmore, southwest Sydney, after they spotted the snake in the bathroom on Monday.
May said the approximately 1.5m-long venomous snake was spotted entering a nearby sewerage line and was strong enough to make its way through to the toilet.
“I think they were trying to chase it away,” May told 7NEWS.com.au, adding the family was “a bit surprised” when it appeared in the toilet bowl.
“It was quite a big, chunky and strong snake, even the pipe he swam up was only about 50mm wide so you got to think it was a pretty tight squeeze for him to get up through there and make his way into the toilet.
“It’s pretty phenomenal actually.”
Despite spending years being called out to Sydney homes and businesses to remove snakes and other reptiles, this assignment was a new experience for May.
“I’ve seen people post about it. You hear about it a lot in the country and stuff like that ... but that’s the first time, myself, that I’ve had it happen,” he said.
Unfortunately, the snake’s journey through the pipe had left it in a really bad way, with May saying it “looked like it was going to die”.
May usually catches and quickly relocates the intruders to a safe space away from people, but the state of this snake prompted him to take it into his care until it was fit for release.
Both he and his wife monitored the snake for a couple of days, making sure it was uninjured and had regained its strength before they prepare to release it on Wednesday.
Warning as snake activity increases in warmer weather
While being interviewed by 7NEWS.com.au on Wednesday morning, May had to abruptly stop his car to avoid a turtle on the road, and his wife received a call to wrangle another snake.
Both are instances of increased reptile activity across Sydney as temperatures begin to climb as we approach summer.
May said he is currently receiving as many as six calls a day to catch and remove snakes, but is expecting as many as 10-per-day in the coming weeks.
He explained the reptiles come out of winter hibernation and almost immediately enter breeding season, meaning they’re much more active and daring while looking for a mate.
“They do a lot more travelling this time of year,” May said.
“They do a lot of things they usually wouldn’t do like travel through backyards more often and stuff like that.”
He warned families to keep their yards clean, as snakes will often find shade in which to rest and regulate their temperatures, and to make sure they’re keeping their pets and kids safe.
“If you’re not home, even if you’ve got an outdoor dog, keep them inside as much as possible,” May said.
“I know it’s hard, but if a dog’s house trained, then it’s probably better.”
The best course of action when coming across a snake, according to May, is to stay calm and try to avoid intimidating or scaring it.
“If you’re not too stressed about it, you’re more than able to just give them space and they’ll just move on pretty quickly,” he said.
“Otherwise, if they do hang around, obviously just call a snake catcher or someone that’s qualified. “