Queensland snake catcher’s wild call in his busiest year yet
The snake catching business is booming in Queensland as suburban sprawl sends animals slithering to new homes.
Stuart McKenzie has spent more than a decade catching and relocating some of Australia’s most dangerous snakes.
And he says this year has been his busiest yet.
“We are definitely seeing more snake-human interactions than ever,” McKenzie, who owns Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers, told InDaily.
But that’s not to say there are more snakes, he says.
“What it means is there’s a lot of population growth in south-east Queensland, so there’s more housing and less and less areas for snakes,” he said.
You might like
“In fact, we’re finding there are snakes that haven’t seen much bush in their lives.”
McKenzie, who studied zoology and marine biology at university, got his catching chops handling crocs and reptiles at Australia Zoo.
Today, he and his team of about 30 full and part-time employees travel around the region every day to relocate snakes from in and outside of people’s homes.
Together, they’ve built a huge following posting videos of their rescues to social media – many of which quickly went viral.
“About five to six years ago, nearly every second video we posted was going viral,” McKenzie recalls.
“But there’s only so many times you show massive pythons getting pulled out of kitchens, or red-bellied black snakes in toy boxes.”
Stay informed, daily
Luckily for McKenzie, business continues to boom. In fact, he says it’s expanding “quicker than we ever have been” as more Queenslanders come across unwelcome visitors to their homes.
“A snake is looking for food, shelter and water,” he explains.
“All three of those things can be found around people.”
And while the majority of callouts he gets are for non-venomous carpet pythons, he warns they can still “give you a nasty bite”.
He says a lot of the danger around snakes comes from misconceptions – and the best thing people can do to protect themselves from the creatures is to learn about them.
“A lot of it is common sense,” he says.
“If you see a snake, breathe and take a step back. And think about what could happen. Keep a safe distance and don’t try to catch it.”
And don’t be afraid to call a professional, he says.
“Snake catchers are here to help,” he said.
“We can give you advice over the phone.”
In Queensland, snakes are protected under the Nature Conservation Act. It is an offence to kill, injure or take snakes from the wild, unless the person is authorised under the Act.
According to DES, the maximum court-imposed penalty for breaching the act is $17,270.
Want to see more stories from InDaily Qld in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily Qld as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily Qld". That's it.
