Family find unwelcome guest lurking on doorstep

This is the moment a “grumpy” python launched twice at a Queensland snake catcher’s face, who was called to remove the serpent from the doorstep of a Sunshine Coast home.

Stu McKenzie, owner of The Snake Catcher 24/7, said he “got a bit of a surprise” to find a python staring at him, just centimetres from his face, while responding to a call yesterday.

“I arrived at a home in Buderim last night to relocate a python which was apparently curled up in a pot plant,” he wrote on Facebook today, sharing footage of the close encounter.

“When I got to the house the family had a heap of pots around the front door.

“I had a quick look for the snake before knocking on the door and I suddenly turned to my right and staring at me a foot from my face curled up in a hanging pot plant was the carpet python,” he said.

In the video Mr McKenzie said although he knew the snake was in a pot somewhere on the front doorstep, he still jumped when he spotted it.

At first, the snake expert comments on the python appearing “pretty chilled out”.

But the creature’s temperament quickly changes when it realises it’s being removed from its hanging spot, and he strikes at the catcher’s face.

Luckily the professional jumps back to avoid being bitten, and eventually manages to get the “grumpy” snake into his bag – not without being launched at a second time.

“I’ve been nothing but nice to him and he’s carrying on,” Mr McKenzie says in the clip.