Snake season still slithering away

Narrabri’s VRA Rescue Squad has seen an unusually high amount of snake activity this late in the season and local snake catcher John Hardgrave and squad members have been busy wrangling and rehoming the slippery friends to more appropriate dwellings.

“Normally the season dies down in mid-March, but recently we were averaging about four to five callouts a week, and now we’re still getting two to three,” said Mr Hardgrave.

“We also heard a snake catcher on The Wire in Tamworth saying he was doing the same, it has been a very late season for us.”

While this isn’t a concern for households, the peculiar number could have multiple contributing factors.

“The warmer weather is a big one, and it’s not as dry at the moment. When it’s dry there’s less grass for snakes to hide in so they tend to retreat to covered ground.”

“We are currently experiencing higher mice and rat populations which is common in grain-growing areas, which is prime snake food, and when there is food, they will breed.

“There are also more frogs around at the moment because of the wetter season, and they like to eat those too.”

Besides snakes being protected by law, and being illegal to kill, it is not only dangerous for those attempting to try but is also counterproductive to the benefits of having snakes present in farming communities (at a safe distance of course).

“We must remember that snakes are a part of the ecological train, they keep the vermin down, which keeps them out of our grain stores and feed which when compromised are costly losses to farmers.

“Snakes are generally quite timid, solitary creatures who like to hide, they only go into houses because they look secure, warm and safe.

“Recently we went into one house and had the place ransacked trying to find a black snake. He’d gone behind the bookcase, so we had to move 50-odd books off the shelf, and he was right in the corner.

“They do get particularly wrapped up in the cabling in the substations, and we find them in the underground power boxes of the new sub-divisions because they like the warmth.”

“The thing people need to understand is to leave them alone and not approach them. If they come inside, then call the snake handler to remove it.”

What started as an answer to the call of locals who didn’t have a snake catcher at the time has turned into a voluntary trained service for the Rescue Squad, which now has five qualified members on the team, and more who are keen to go through training.

“We try to get to as many as we can, but obviously we can’t venture too far from Narrabri because of our responsibilities and resources,” said Mr Hardgrave.

Luckily, Mr Hardgrave has never been bitten by a snake, but he wasn’t always the wisened snake wrangler that he is now.

“I used to be terrified of snakes when I first started, but now it doesn’t worry me, but I’m very weary of them,” said Mr Hardgrave.

“We get calls from all over the region from Wee Waa, Boggabri, and a few from the Bellata school but due to our primary role of rescue, can’t go too far out town.

“One woman was travelling from Wee Waa and a snake slithered across the floor over her feet. She just shoved on the brakes, got out, and called us. We had a look in the car and couldn’t find it but she didn’t want to drive her car back, so we took it to Narrabri for her.

The most common snakes in the Narrabri area are the poisonous eastern browns (common browns) and king browns, as well as the red, blue, and white-bellied black snakes, then the non-poisonous carpet python.

“The longest snake I’ve seen in the area is a two-metre carpet snake, but they are fairly docile,” said Mr Hardgrave.

“Every two out of three snakes we have caught recently has been a brown snake and generally average about one metre in size here.

“There are more brown snakes than black which are both common, there are supposedly tiger snakes in the area but I haven’t personally come across them.”

While snakes don’t hibernate, they do retreat underground to warmer areas, and of the many snake legends, it remains true that it’s not uncommon for them to move on as quickly as they come in.

“We had a call out for one on Sunday night that I just couldn’t find and that happens a lot,” said Mr Hardgrave.

“We had one in the hospital front garbage bin, which needed two people to get it out safely.

“You just have to be a bit cautious, wear the right safety gear, and make sure you have your snake bag, hook and stick, and tongs.

“The craziest place I’ve seen them is over the doorway on the track of a sliding door of the hospital, it took us a while to get him unwrapped.

“We’ve found them in engine compartments and behind the dashboard and found a carpet snake in the roof of the storage shed of the old timber mill.”

While Mr Hardgrave reiterates not to call the Rescue Squad if you have a snake bite, he does have some advice for how to best handle it.

“Just remember if you have a snake bite, put a pressure bandage on right away, stay put, and call an ambulance. The last thing you want to do is move too much because you don’t want venom to circulate in the lymphatic system.

“But the best advice for dealing with a snake bite is not to get one, so don’t go near them and call a snake catcher to do the job.”