snake catcher

Yesterday i was called to the Frankston freeway construction site to rescue this poor copperhead that had been evicted from her home. Watch this Also yesterday, in Dandenong, another copperhead on a building site in an industrial area. Click on here, lol>>

Ive been very lucky Bite Me, never had to go to hospital from a snake bite. Good on ya liz Im stealing that Wings,, Redbellies are beautiful canibalistic snakes, They are the least venomous of the larger comon snakes and their bite is regarded as less dangerous by experts. Loves eating tigersnakes and brownsnakes.

Big copperheads that are tired like this one is are usually pretty placid. This one had been stuck in a water treatment pond for a day and was tired from swimming making it easier to handle The full rescue can be seen here I dont think i do Steve Erwin very well so i try to stay away from all the theatricals and leave that to the seasoned performers. the bigger the snake the louder the hiss,any snake really. I have heard big brown snakes make a lot of noise but they are usually seriously pi$$ed of to do this. When they are up in the double s like in this pic they mean business.

yes, theyre the ones. Took some video of a copperhead i rescued today..

@ Gillybob, you might have been lucky to recieve a dry bite. This happens when an adult snake is not scared of being eaten and is just letting you know to back off. The older snakes like to hold their venom for the prey because they bite, let go, and then track the dying mouse, frog whatever till it drops. Tigersnakes often do this and that is why is good to have a big resident snakes that knows the property and the animals that live there. The big old tiger will not let any smaller snakes into its territory and will eat 100s of mice over one Summer To a juvenile tigersnake, everything is a scary threat and they tend to give you their venom when they bite. Juvenile snakes bite their prey and hold on till it dies and dont usually hunt it down like the adults. You were lucky but it is not uncommon to recieve dry bites from tigersnakes, copperheads, blacksnakes and even brownsnakes. Rare in taipans

I dont know the answer to that raz, but I will look into it,and maybe even find out. Could be interesting I do know what I have witnessed and I do know, for a fact, they don't die straight away when decapitated.

They dont like it and can't smell the rodents when its applied. The fact that it interferes with the sense of smell is enough to turn it around as this one of their main senses.,. If you squirt the snake directly it will get pissed off and confused and this will make it unpredictable, but, it will surely not return and will not have any permenant damage.

Hi Teela Diurnal, or daytime snakes will come out after a hot day and soak up the warmth from the bitumen or sandy roads. Tigersnakes in particular can be both diurnal and nocturnal as the natural prey of the adult tiger snake is young birds and bird eggs. At night they can climb a small tree or shrub and raid birds nests. I have removed many tigersnakes from these situations

Pav Lova said i might be misreading the comment of yours....dont think so

Keeping hares in captivity is not illegal in Victoria, But it is totally irrelevant when talking about the illegal killing of native animals.

Obviously you need to spray it and we do that by using a normal hairdressers squirt bottle. On killing the snake, guess what, snakes have different personalities and the snake you kill could be the well tempered one that was keeping more dangerous or "meaner" snakes away. In a lot of farm situations the dogs and the snakes are aware of each others existance and this reduces the risk of surprise meetings. They have met and understand the natural way of things., "dont mess with me and i wont mess with you" Kill the snake on your property and the next snake that comes may not be so friendly to farmyard animals, they are not smart but they do remember bad experiences. If you are having a problem with your dogs killing normal animals such a poultry, s uch as Pavlovas dogs in the netting thread, then dont you think this issue needs to be addressed. rather than killing protected wildlife. Please tell me if im out of order here in saying that.

Snakes hate the smell of cloves and a packet of cloves from the supermaket is the base for the spray. Cloves work, they cover the smell of the rodent and the snake hates it. How you make the spray depends on you. Some people add oils like eucalyptus and teatree and lavender. and some will add soapy water to help it stick.but the main thing is the cloves. Shoo snake is just a rip off and you can make much better in your own home. Bring 2 litres of water to boil with a bag or 2 of cloves in it and let it boil for as long as possible, do it outside, because it stinks. Top up the water as it evaporates. Your water should be almost black, add the oils if you want and the soapy water. This will need to be resprayed every week or more often if its raining and depending on wether you are putting out of the elements

Thanks Pesephone. Chooks and guinea fowl love to kill and eat snakes. Not only because snakes steal eggs and chick but this is what they have been doing for thousands, or millions of years,depending on what you believe in, All birds have a natural aversion to snakes and the ground dwelling bird like the ancestors of all our poultry have the speed and the abilty to deal with the snake. Just watch what happens when a snake appears in the chook shed. They are faster, and smarter and have the advantage of hearing and are a great "barrier" There is the other side of the coin in that chooks can attract rodents. So its a catch 22. But the rodents can be controlled by the way in which the chooks are fed. No grain on the ground means no rodent. A mouse would never enter an area with a giant mouse eating bird unless it smells the grain. You can use a homemade herbal spray to stop the smell of the grain or mouse as well. You can even make a safe spray that will turn a snake around in its track and i have personally tested this recipe and it does work on all snakes.

Water could be the reason and like Persephone said in the netting thread, placing water away from the vulnerable areas not only stops a thirsty snake from coming in but the other native wildlife will appreciate it to. When you saw the snakes trying to get in, did they know you were there? Tiger snakes are not to bright and they will panic easily. In the heat of the day all reptiles will be more flighty and will bump into things in their panic. The behaviour you are describing sounds a bit like a snake in a hurry to move away. Being not a hell of a lot smarter than a goldfish they will do silly things in their effort to get away of get a feed or a drink. Also, when you say there are no mice, mice are attracted to dog kennels because of the warmth and the safety from birds, cats and snakes. As well as the eating dropped food, feaces and dog hair. You dont always see them but the scent of a mouse will lay on the ground for days in the right conditions. Can you videotape this or photograph it next time it happens ?? Then i will be able to answer you better

Thanks gillybob, i appreciate that, and i appreciate the fear that some of you have of snakes. Even the brown snake, which has a reputation for aggression will turn around and leave if given the chance. As you know, Im an animal lover, and my heart goes out to anyone who has lost their dog to a snakebite. I do know, the use of birdnetting is dangerous, inhumane and illegal and also it does nothing to decrease the chance of snakebite. This is why i have had my local Bunnings here in Mornington, remove it from their shelves. When used properly, the bird netting is fairly safe. When misused, well.I have an album of the animals that have been trapped, injured and killed by the stuff. It is heartbreaking to find parrots, bats, bluetongues, sleepy lizard, bearded dragon, possum, echidna dying, dead or stressed in the net. If a snake goes in and gets stuck in the net in the morning and you check it in the afternoon, it oould be dead already, the hotter the day the more chance of a slow death by exposure. You check the birdnet, the snake, if its not dead, will be scared and in pain. You chop of its head with your trusty long handle shovel. The body writhes and carries on because of nerves. The head, is watching and aware and still scared while you put its body in the rubbish bin. Because reptiles are built differently to mammals, the severed head will stay alive, seeing, and sensing with its tongue for up to 15 minutes. The only humane way to kill any animal, is by massive brain trauma. If you cut off a snakes head, crush the head with a rock and end its misery quickly.

Is this aimed at me? Ill make this my last post in this thread and then its yours. Sorry for hijacking this thread of yours but i find it hard to find anything positive about the illegal misuse of bird netting to trap and kill native animals in a misguided and naive attempt to remove the danger of snakebite. Ill shut up now then.

I never said snakes were real smart, maybe the confusion of the dogs barking and the sight of the human made the snake act like that, I wasnt there or i would be able to tell you difinitvely why. Rain is good for everything, growth in grasses will lead to seed eating animals like mice and birds boosting their populations.When there are lots of mice and birds around, the snakes will thrive to. I live on the Mornington peninsula and if any one calls me in Southern Victoria Ill have a snake catcher at their door within an hour or so. Pretty confident about that. What area are you in ? and ill give you the number of the nearest snake catcher.

Terrible poison, such a long and painful death for the fox and the dog. Must be a better way to control the fox.

Good link corvus, like your username to . Big corvid fan. I was going to say that snakes can hear some noises and they feel vibration but just open corvuses link and it's all there. The snake handler who said that was not very well informed at all and as corvus said, the snakes used in these snake shows do not react the same as snakes in the bush.

Rebanne Like I have said in other snake related threads already, you need to retrain or restrain your dogs. If you cant train your dog not to attack a snake then I suggest (again) the use of the shadecloth to creats a barrier between the dogs and the protected wildlife they may come acroos. Clean up your yard and dont give the snake anywhere to hide. Short grass and trees and shrubs pruned in such a way as you can see under them, Water around the dogs can attract snakes in the drier parts of the year, be aware, Get ontop of the rodents as the snake will hunt them using their sense of smell. Venomous snakes do not attack dogs and any vet will tell you that the dog is just not on the menu for a snake. (apart from large pythons) When a snake sees a dog, it reacts defensivly because as far as a snake is concerened, dogs and humans are huge predators juts wanting to eat them. But the best advice i can give it training and vigilance. Everytime you remove a large snake, another one will move into its territory. Dont fight nature, rather, build yourself and your dogs snake free areas.. i know ive forgotten something but no doubt i will be reminded of it soon.

Shade cloth barrier neednt be more than 1.6 high in Southern vic where the snakes are a bit shorter in length than further North and to the west, What happens is, when a snake comes up against a barrier in its travels, it will follow it along and look for a gap or hole to go through, If it cant find one, then they usually move on. They rarely try to climb the shade cloth unless they can smell the mice on the other side. The scent of the rodent is what they follow and any gap where a mouse can go, a snake can go. Birdnet information For the record, the last place i went to to remove a snake had 6 of the snake sentinal electronic snake repellers in place, all turned on and beeping but not affecting the snakes in the slightest. Now, I am not totally convined that they work or not and I think the structure of the soil(how heavy it is) has a lot to do with the effectiveness.

Thanks Nic, when you rang the other day I was driving to work and our conversation and the sound of your voice made the boring long drive to the city a bit more bearable. I hope you and your family have a happy and safe Summer. As far as snakes go, most areas have a snake catcher and they are easily found by ringing the nearest police station of wildlfe carer. Get the number of your local snake catcher and store in your phone, on your fridge or anywhere, just keep it handy.

I love taking my dogs for walks and seeing other peoples reactions to them and the dogs love getting pats from strangers and socialising with other dogs. For doggy excersize I take them to our local leash free park where they can run and jump and smell all the smells. Watch this Cooper loves getting dirty with white flufy dogs, and they love him to. And this When I lived on a farm, the dogs never got fat because they were always doing something.

A lot of time the nets are set and the animal is left in it or beheaded, (dont get me started on beheading). If the net is checked every day and IF they are humanely dealt with, IE: euthanised humanely, (not chopped with a friken shovel) or a wildlife person is contacted to remove it THEN it isnt so much of an issue. I dont value any life over another generally and im glad for you to murder the snake in your yard if thats your thing, but, please, A snake is an amimal to, cruel and inhumane death is NOT what they deserve. Dont worry, as i am one of the few people legaly allowed to kill snakes it breaks my heart but not as much as when i see a dead dog from an avoidable snakebite. I love my dogs and i love all animals,,,,I must be one of those do-gooders

The dogs are more in danger if they come across a netted snake as are people.