Red-bellied black snake found ‘in the heart’ of busy CBD: 'Not normal'
The venomous snake was found slithering along one of Sydney's main streets metres from busy bars and drunken revellers.
If your mate told you he saw a snake slither down George Street in Sydney's CBD in the early hours of the morning, chances are you wouldn't believe him. But if your mate said it was last weekend — he was right.
A venomous red-bellied black snake was spotted metres away from busy bars on Sunday morning just after 2am, with a coordinated effort from police and snake catchers required to keep "intoxicated partygoers" safe.
"It was sighted in George Street and going down a ramp into World Square before it slid into the driveway of an underground car park," Cory Kerewaro from Reptile Relocation Sydney told Yahoo News Australia.
Cory woke his colleague Dylan to attend the scene after concerned patrons notified police and helped him with the rescue.
"I was on FaceTime to him the whole time ... I could hear drunk people yelling in the background, there was a bit of banter," he said.
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Rescuer was initially unable to locate the snake
After the one-metre long snake made its way toward the underground carpark — presumably to seek a quiet place — the rescuer was initially unable to find it. He had to search within the walls before he found a "small hole" where the snake was.
With the help of some hammers, the rescuer smashed bricks in the wall to safely retrieve the snake from its hiding place.
Why a snake may have been in the CBD
Cory explained snakes are found "every so often in the heart of a city" but admitted it "was not normal to find one in George Street".
He believes there is two likely reasons how the snake found itself in such a built-up area.
"It's likely it had either been translocated in someone's vehicle, or there was a delivery of produce in the area [with the snake accidentally being transported]," he said.
Cory confirmed it was a successful rescue and no one, including the snake, was injured.
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