BORDER MAIL (Wodonga, Australia) 24 November 07 Slithering haul of 18 for catcher (Breanna Tucker)
A snake catcher has warned Border residents to be on the lookout after rounding up his 18th reptile in the past 10 days.
Peter Doherty was called to the Trinity Anglican College, Thurgoona, yester-day to remove a tiger snake that had crawled under ramps to a classroom building.
He said snakes were on the move with summer approaching and he had been called to homes at Corowa and Rutherglen as well as Albury-Wodonga.
“They’re getting caught up in cars and sliding underneath doors into people’s homes,” he said.
Mr Doherty said two of the snakes were red-bellied blacks and the rest were brown snakes.
The snake at Trinity Anglican College was his first tiger snake for the season.
“Tiger snakes need water and prefer moist areas likes dams,” he said.
“It is pretty dry out here in Thurgoona so I would have thought it came in on a car but apparently there is a creek nearby so it could have come up along there.
Mr Doherty said 18 snakes was not necessarily a high number for this time of the year”.
But that did not mean people could let down their guard.
“People should be cutting grass and keeping their yards tidy,” he said.
“If you can see daylight beneath the crack in your door you need to block it.
“And, finally, if you see a snake you should back away.
“Don’t try and be a hero, because heroes get bitten.”
Slithering haul of 18 for catcher