A local wildlife volunteer has been taking care of a snake that grew too big for its owners to manage.
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When the owners dropped the massive carpet python on his doorstep they said they would have illegally released it into the bush if it wasn’t for local snake-handler Ian Usher.
“They just dropped her at my place and said, ‘I don’t want her anymore, I’m going to throw her in the bush, you take her,’” he said.
“She got too big for them to handle and of course they wouldn’t let her out of the cage and she got cage-defensive and very aggressive.
“Every time they tried to feed her, or even go near her she’d strike and bite at them.
“Snakes are a bit like any pet, if you don’t treat them with care and get out and handle them, they get aggressive.”
It is illegal to release a snake that has been kept in captivity into the wild, for three reasons; it could be carrying a disease that’s not prevalent in wild animals, they’ve lost the ability to hunt for themselves, and lost their fear of man and animals.
Unless an unwanted pet snake can be rehomed, the only option is euthanisation.
“And we can’t have that,” fellow snake-rescuer Dusty Jones said.
The Wildlife Rescue South Coast volunteers work with two others, tending to unwanted and injured snakes from Kiama to Bega.
“I rehabilitate snakes that come in with injuries from dogs, cats and people,” Mr Usher said.
“Some are hit by lawnmowers and whipper snippers.”
The volunteers don’t receive government funding for the hours they pour into the snakes or the facilities they need to house them.
“Everything we do, we fund, except for the funds we raise at book stalls and with raffles,” Mr Usher said.
“We’re hoping with the new biodiversity law coming into effect with Department of Primary Industries we can get recognition and funding from government so we can keep it up, it is an expensive activity.”
Mr Usher and Mr Jones were down at the World Environment Day Fair at Huskisson on Saturday, raising awareness about the work they do.
“People have a fear of snakes and say, ‘the only good snake is a dead snake,’ nothing could be further from the truth,” he said.
“Yes, if you’re walking through the bush and you startle the snake, yes, of course it’s going to react because you’ve startled it, but you’d do the same if someone startles you.
“If they go into strike position, stand completely still, once they realise you’re no longer a threat they’ll go their own way.”
