Snake catcher’s shock find in bedroom

“As soon as we opened the door, the first thing we saw was this huge huntsman like literally directly above the bed,” Stuart McKenzie from Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers told news.com.au.

“We were like ‘holy dooley, that’s massive’ and then we swung around our vision to the end of the bed and there was a cupboard at the end and that’s where the big snake was, just sitting on top of the cupboard.”

Mr McKenzie said someone at the home in Landsborough had seen the snake and shut the door to lock it in the bedroom. The next day they called the snake catchers.

He said the woman was going to kill the spider with spray so Mr McKenzie offered to catch it as well.

“I’m fine with spiders but I don’t really want it on me,” he said. “As soon as I put it on my hat it started bloody crawling around. I was trying to hold my hat and move it so it didn’t crawl up my arm. It was pretty big.”

Mr McKenzie said cold and windy weather had slowed down business lately but said up until this point it was the busiest season ever.

“There’s so much development going on. There’s less and less natural bushland for snakes,” he said.

“Snakes are finding themselves having to go into backyards and houses more often because they’ve got no where else to go.

“We’re finding the interaction between humans and snakes has increased.”

Mr McKenzie’s advice if you find a snake is to keep your distance and call a professional.

He warned people not to have a few a drinks over the festive season and think they can be a snake catcher.

Just last week, David Voss from Gladstone Region Snake Catchers had to remove an eastern brown snake from someone’s car at night.

It’s believed the deadly snake may have travelled with the driver for hours unnoticed.

“It was sliding over the seats and under the seats, and around the baby’s seat,” Mr Voss said.

“He’s very fortunate because eastern browns are very timid, a very nervous snake so they tend to react to very little (stimulation).

“You only have to move your feet or something like that and it could have struck out.”

In November, Australian Reptile Park captured its largest funnel-web spider with huge fangs capable of puncturing a fingernail.

Wildlife experts have predicted an increase in numbers of venomous snakes and spiders this summer, with NSW Health urging residents to know what to do if bitten.

Australian Snake Catchers’ Sean Cade, who works in Sydney and the Blue Mountains, recently told news.com.au call outs were already ramping up, averaging eight to 10 a day.

“The thing out of the ordinary compared to the last few years is the size of the snakes we’re getting … bigger, healthier, fatter snakes,” he said.

Snake bites

Seek immediate medical attention, even for a suspected bite.

If someone has collapsed following a snake bite start CPR immediately – this can be lifesaving.

If someone is bitten you should keep them still, call an ambulance and apply a pressure immobilisation bandage.

Tight tourniquets should not be applied and the bite site should not be washed, cut or sucked.

Symptoms from a venomous bite can include nausea, vomiting and a headache, however, first aid should be applied regardless of whether these symptoms are present.

Spider bites

Most spider bites are harmless. However, if a person has been bitten by a big black spider or funnel-web, it is a medical emergency.

If someone is bitten, you should keep them still, call an ambulance and apply a pressure immobilisation bandage, with a further bandage to the entire limb.

A bite from a funnel-web can cause severe pain, sweating, vomiting, difficulty breathing and muscle twitching. A redback spider bite may result in pain and redness, but it is not considered life-threatening so does not require bandaging.

Originally published as Snake catcher’s shock find in Sunshine Coast bedroom