Warning to residents in new Aussie development after deadly discovery: 'On the move'
'He caught me by surprise, I took half a step into the kitchen and then saw him cross the floor,' 24-year-old resident Hunter told Yahoo News.
Large numbers of homes in the northwest Sydney suburb of Box Hill are only a few months old, and sit on what was once farmland. In Australia, animals like koalas are moved away when developers move in, but reptiles are often left to try and eke out an existence in what remains of their former grassland habitat.
Chris Williams, the founder of Urban Reptile Removal, was called out to catch the eastern brown last week. When he arrived, the snake was hiding under a drinks cabinet, struggling to move across the slippery tiles.
'It couldn't really get a grip, so it was reluctant to move around. It felt safest tucked up against the drinks cabinet rather than trying to leave the home,' he told Yahoo News. When the drinks cabinet was pulled away the snake acted defensively, throwing itself around erratically.
You can watch the eastern brown try to escape in the video below. Williams waited for the 80cm-long juvenile to settle down, and then was able to use his hook to get him into the net.
It's believed the snake crawled inside to escape the heat after Hunter accidentally left his garage door open. Having grown up in Australia, it's not something he'd ever do on purpose.
'I've had them in the backyard before, but one getting in the house is new,' he said.
Related: 😳 Warning to Aussies after dad captures eastern brown on driveway
Many of the callouts Williams receives about catching snakes in the western suburbs of Sydney are from new residents to Australia. And he wants to warn them about risks they could be unwittingly taking, particularly in areas close to open land.
'In summer, in these new estates, residents need to know snakes are going to be on the move, and to take precautions,' he said.
'With many new Australians, the custom is to have shoes out of your house on racks, and they're a great place for snakes to hide. And leaving doors open, especially during hot weather, is an open invitation to them.'
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Eastern browns are the second-most venomous land snake in Australia, after the inland taipan. While they have a reputation for being aggressive, they're actually more of a defensive reptile with a habitat of striking and puffing themselves up to avoid being killed by humans.
In Australia, all native reptiles are protected and it is an offence to harm them. Anyone with a snake inside their home is urged to contact a licensed reptile handler.
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