Mount Cotton resident is concerned for his safety after spotting a venomous snake in his neighbourhood, only to learn there are no public services that will remove it.
Resident Nick Parker was walking his dog on the trail along Hardwood Drive when he spotted the venomous Yellow-Face Whip snake lying close by.
His first reaction was to contact someone who could help with the situation; he received a disappointing response.
“I called the Redland City Council and there’s nothing they do about it,” Mr Parker said.
“Australia is a very organised country, there’s processes for everything and everything works really well, it’s quite amazing that there’s no service that can look after that type of thing because a snake can kill you.”
Brisbane does not offer a public service to remove potentially dangerous snakes from public nor private properties.
If a resident finds a snake in their home or in a public space, they must contact a private snake catcher to come and relocate it safely.
Elliot Wigram professional snake catcher says that as the weather gets warmer, snakes become more active and many residents become angry at the fees they must pay to manage the situation.
“When it starts to warm up coming into spring snakes move out looking for food and mates, so because they’re moving around, people are seeing them and then they call me,” Elliot said.
“We get calls all the time from people who have seen a snake crossing the road or something and then we tell them there is a fee and they can get quite angry,” he said
Elliot claims that it would be more beneficial to make this service public.
“I’d get paid a lot more, northern territories have a tax -pay funded service and they (the snake catchers) get paid a reasonable amount of money,” he said.
Regardless of the benefits of this service being public, as much for the snake catchers and the general public the government does not offer it because there is a permit required to perform this type of task.
Lisa Bailey wildlife officer from the Redland city council explains snake catchers must acquire a permit qualifies them to legally remove a snake from its natural habitat.
“To be a snake catcher you actually have to have a mitigation permit from state government in Queensland,” Officer Bailey said.
“It’s the same as with possums or rats or any animal that anyone wants to remove from their house, that is not a service the council provides,” She said.
“As long as you are prepared to take responsibility for the fact that you live in a country that has snakes and that we always need to be mindful of that, then you should never have any issue.”
Val Writes 