Russell Island: Video captures writhing snakes after shock pantry find
Two male pythons fighting it out in a roof cavity have crashed into a pantry, shocking an elderly resident and prompting an expert warning about snake mating season.
The brawling carpet pythons, each around two metres long, dropped through a manhole above the pantry at a home on Russell Island, near Brisbane, on Tuesday night.
Video of the clash shows the two snakes writhing on the floor, their bodies entwined.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Reptile rescuer and rehabilitator Trish Harris, who was called to the home, said she had seen plenty of snakes, but the duo were huge.
The elderly occupant of the home heard a noise in his kitchen and found the battling snakes on the floor, prompting him to call triple zero before Ms Harris was brought in.
“It’s the middle of the mating season and they’d been fighting in the roof,” she told AAP.
“The larger one was thicker than my lower leg and over six-foot long.”
The next challenge was getting the snakes out of the house, with the larger of the pair too heavy for Ms Harris to pick up and carry.
It could easily have overpowered her, so she dragged it outside by the tail then managed to pick up the smaller snake and put it in nearby bushland.
“I didn’t see a female but it’s very possible there’s one in the roof, and that’s why the males were there,” Ms Harris said.
People could avoid a similar snake shock by blocking up potential entry points into their house, she said.Jules Farquhar, a snake researcher and catcher from Monash University, said snakes were battling it out for mating rights across Australia at the moment.
“Male carpet pythons often engage in ritual combat to win access to females during mating season, which runs from late winter into early spring,” he said.
“They wrestle, bite and push one another to assert dominance.”
Coastal carpet pythons often lived in suburban environments along the east coast and regularly grew to lengths of 2.7m or more, he said.
Fights could look dramatic, but it was best to stay clear and call in a snake catcher if the reptiles were found in a home, Mr Farquhar said.
