Snake's unusual hiding spot shocks Aussie family
You don't see this by your bins every day.
An Aussie couple is learning to live with a huge snake after making a startling discovery on their property. "It was spotted yesterday morning but we're unsure how long it had been there, and it's happily still chilling in its bucket," Sam Stowe told Yahoo News Australia of the unexpected guest at her parents' house.
Sharing a series of photos online — worried that the visitor might be dehydrated and needing medical care — the mum of two revealed the creature's unusual hiding spot. With its long scaly body, the snake can be seen submerged in a bucket full of water, which sits next to where garbage bins are stored.
"It's at my parents' house and they watch my kids, aged two and five, every day after school," the Brisbane resident explained. "They also have cats they've been keeping inside. We've seen snakes around the area a few times over the years, but none at the actual house. The neighbour mentioned they recently had a python removed from their property."
What's the snake up to?
As the weather heats up across the country, more snakes like this one in Queensland will be looking for somewhere to cool off, according to Luke Huntley, better known as Luke the Noosa Snake Catcher.
"Usually when snakes go into water like that, it's because it's so hot and dry and they're either going for little soaks to cool down or they're having something to drink," he told Yahoo.
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"Also, sometimes what happens is when snakes have gotten mites, like dust mites, what they do is they'll go into the water and they'll submerge themselves in an attempt to drown the mites."
Huntley went on to explain that snakes in captivity can be treated with a dust mite spray, but in nature snakes "definitely do soak themselves" to get rid of mites.
'Give it a day'
Fortunately for the family, the snake in their bucket is a carpet python and nonvenomous, although with plenty of razor sharp teeth you wouldn't want to get too close.
"My dad is happy to leave it be for now," Stowe said. "He has moved quite a few snakes in the past so wouldn't hesitate to take the bucket over to the forest to release it. They live across from bushland."
However, Huntley says it's a job best handled by experts. "They can either give it a chance and give it the day to move away — it may move off tonight — or if it's still there in the morning, or if they feel uncomfortable, they could give their local snake catcher a call and they can come in and grab it," he suggested.
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