Snake catcher's warning after new mum has terrifying toilet confrontation

A young Melbourne mother has been left in tears after an eastern brown snake crawled through a bathroom pipe while she was sitting on the toilet with her newborn baby in the room.

The Greensborough mother saw the snake’s head pop up through the back pipe of the toilet, just inches from her baby earlier this week.

“She was crying when she called me,” snake catcher Mark Pelley, known as the Snake Hunter told Yahoo7 News.

“The baby was in the room with her when it happened, she just picked him up and waited outside until I got there.”

That was just one of 11 close encounters Mr Pelley responded to on Christmas Day and Boxing Day, prompting a warning to people not to be complacent.

The Victorian snake catcher was also called out to houses in Eltham North, Kilmore, Diamond Creek, Epping, Hurstbridge, Fawkner, Donvale, Doreen, Lower Plenty and Mill Park.

He said homeowners need to be aware that snakes are going to be trying to escape the heat at any means possible.

“Numbers are definitely higher than usual… they are entering through doggy doors, crawling underneath the front doors, crawling through windows and even pipes that go into houses,” he said.

“Don’t believe they are only found in the bush. They are very common in suburbia.”

“Keep an eye out around the home because people have nearly stepped on them and have unsuspectingly put their hands underneath their bed and found a snake there instead.”

Another unsuspecting teenage girl was just inches away from stepping on an eastern tiger snake when she woke up in the middle of the night to the sound her dog barking, Mr Pelley said.

While he pleaded with residents to be vigilant, he also urged them not to act out of fear and try and hurt the snakes.

“If you see a snake, don’t kill it, just call your closest snake catcher,” he added.