The unexpected suburbs being hit by savage Sydney snake plague

It's peak snake season and all across Sydney no suburb seems to be safe, with one catcher called to nearly 50 jobs in just one week.

From Toongabbie to Bondi, from pythons to brown snakes, it’s been a hectic season for Sydney snake catchers as they respond to non-stop calls from residents discovering unwanted creatures in their homes and yards.

Cammeray resident Margaret Student got the shock of her life when she discovered an unwelcome bedroom visitor earlier this month.

“I got a terrible fright, I thought it was a fake, I thought someone's played a practical joke,” she said.

But it was no joke – and neither was a highly venomous death adder found on a Hornsby patio, or a slithery specimen found in Linfield.

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For snake catchers like Harley Jones, there’s no time to rest.

In the last week, one single snake-catching service was called out to 47 separate jobs, including a tiger snake in Terrey Hills, two brown snakes in Leppington, another deadly brown in Orchard Hills and a red belly black in Toongabbie.

“On the North Shore we usually find these pythons or common tree snakes but the further you go west, the more common brown snakes become,” Mr Jones told 7 News.

The recent results of a decade-long study into snake bites has led to updated medical advice to use a firm bandage instead of a tourniquet, minimise movement with a splint and never suck venom out or cut a wound.

And as always, those struck by a snake should get to hospital for anti-venom as quickly as is humanly possible.