Why this unlucky cat's new 'collar' terrified its owners
A Tasmanian snake catcher has managed to wrangle in a serpent after it wrapped around the neck of a cat.
Thomas Leishman was called out to a home in Richmond, north of Hobart, in January 2017 after a copperhead snake wrapped itself around the feline's collar.
Snake Catcher Victoria recently shared the picture on Facebook with the caption, "not something you see every day".
Mr Leishman told Yahoo7 the hardest part of the job, an incident he'd never seen before, was actually getting the cat to cooperate.
"The cat wasn't hurt, but he wasn't coming anywhere near me," he said.
"Both were unharmed but the cat kept getting up and walking away. I needed to earn the cat's trust but once he settled down I got behind the snake's head and worked it off the cat's collar."
Mr Leishman said the snake did not intend on hurting the cat. He believes the snake was outside, the cat came up to it and caused the serpent to panic.
"Snakes aren't aggressive, they're defensive," he added.
"Leave them alone and you've got nothing to worry about."
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Mr Leishman said if your pet ever comes inside with a snake wrapped around it to be calm and don't try removing it yourself.
"Confine the pet to a small room just in case the snake comes off," he said.
"And call a handler or a catcher."
He also advised to keep pets indoors or in confined areas during the warmer seasons.
