'Cranky' pregnant brown snake found near 5yo's play area
An anxious mother has come across an eastern brown snake enjoying the sunshine close to where her young child plays outside their Sunshine Coast home.
Following the discovery the woman from Eumundi called local snake catcher Luke Huntley, and fortunately she did as the reptile, measuring at least 1.5 metres, was feisty and heavily pregnant.
"She is chock full of eggs," Mr Huntley can be heard saying to the homeowner in footage which was uploaded to the Snake Catcher Noosa Facebook page on Thursday.
The expectant mother, estimated to be carrying between 12 and 15 eggs, had been sunning herself next to a patio where the homeowner's five-year-old boy plays every day.
The snake catcher said the eastern brown wasn't interested in biting him - but understood the mother's concern.
"Small children and the world's second most venomous snake should not be kept together at all," Mr Huntley told Yahoo7.
Mr Huntley said the mum-to-be definitely didn't want to be moved after finding a comfortable place where she was probably hoping to lay her eggs in the next couple of weeks.
In the video of the catch the "cranky" snake appears to be writhing.
"It struck up and tried to bite me on the hand," Mr Huntley recalled.
The snake catcher said he quickly twisted his wrist to move the snake's body in the opposite direction "to throw its strike off."
"Bit of a close call but it’s a good reminder to always call the professionals and never try this yourself," the snake catcher wrote on Facebook.
He believed this snake had moved there about a week or two ago and it wasn't his first attempt to catch the reptile - but fortunately it was second time lucky.
"I'd been there the day before to try and get it. It shot off underneath the concrete slab," Mr Huntley told Yahoo7.
"I knew I didn't need to whisper but because I was sneaking up on it I naturally lowered my voice," Mr Huntley added.
The snake catcher said it's definitely the time for incubation with breeding season nearing its end.
This expectant mother has now been relocated to the Eumundi State Forest to have her babies.
