Man struggles to catch huge snake in dramatic video
Incredible video has emerged of a man wrangling with a huge snake as he struggles to get the venomous reptile into a bag.
Bryan Ling, from Elleker in rural Western Australia, had been walking two dogs on his property when he spotted the snake basking in the sun.
Without much time to react, he attracted the attention of Barbara Vermeulen, who had been doing some maintenance nearby, to help to take the dogs away from the area and grab a bag to put the dugite in.
“Usually they would pick it up with a hook but we had no time to do anything,” Ms Vermeulen told Yahoo7.
As the pair tried to get ready for a spur-of-the-moment catch, the snake briefly disappeared before it popped out again, just 30 centimetres away from Ms Vermeulen.
Fortunately Mr Ling is trained to catch snakes and was able to grab hold of the venomous reptile, measuring about 1.7metres, by its tail.
Video has captured the “very feisty” dugite writhing as Mr Ling attempted to contain the reptile safely.
“He struggled. It was a really hot day and (the snake) didn’t want to get caught,” Ms Vermeulen recalled, explaining that a snake that size would normally require a much bigger bag.
At one point the snake catcher thought he had succeeded, but as he was twisting the bag closed the dugite jumped back out and tried to make a speedy getaway.
Mr Ling chased it down and was able to snatch it again and secure it in the bag.
It is the fourth venomous snake spotted on the property in the past couple of weeks. Three of them were dugites.
“Really freaky, yeah. I feel like they’re everywhere out here now,” Ms Vermeulen said.
According to The Australian Museum website, the dugite is considered to be very dangerous to humans “because of the snake’s size and highly toxic venom”.
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“Its prevalence in residential areas and nervous disposition have helped make it responsible for approximately 70% of all snake bites reporting to Perth hospitals, but thanks to prompt and effective intervention, there has been only one recorded fatality,” the website states.
Mr Ling advises that other people do not to use his techniques in catching snakes.
He says always use a professional handler and never try catch them yourself.
