Deadly find on roadside in iconic Aussie suburb sparks wild theory: 'Extremely rare'
A metre-long venomous snake was spotted crossing a busy road and heading east towards Australia's iconic Bondi Beach. It was the second of two incredible reptile discoveries made by a Sydney-based reptile catcher on Wednesday.
Local resident Tim was driving down Old South Head Road, a busy stretch that intersects the beachside mecca with the nation's most expensive suburb Bellevue Hill. His girlfriend Lara only noticed the reptile because a woman was surprisingly trying to guide it onto the footpath with a stick.
'I said, there's no way someone is trying to push a snake off a road in Bondi, but it turns out she was,' he told Yahoo News.
Having grown up in country Victoria, Tim has handled a few snakes in his time. So he pulled a quick U-turn and jumped out of his car to help. He was expecting to find a harmless tree snake or python, but instead he found himself staring at a red-bellied blacksnake.
While a bite from the species can cause lifelong harm, including organ damage and altered taste sensation, its venom hasn't killed a human in Australia for decades. And while the snakes are generally shy, they will strike if provoked.
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Knowing his limitations, Tim stepped back and watched on as the woman Michelle guided the snake down Hall Street and towards the base tree. It was after 2pm and he was worried kids would be leaving school soon, meaning the snake could pose a danger. The police and a wildlife rescue group were unable to help, so he called a professional reptile handler for help.
'I'd rather not read an article in Yahoo News that said a kid was bitten because I was too much of a tight-arse to pay for a snake catcher,' he quipped.
'So I offered to pay. And then Michelle said, I'll go you halves. There was another guy named Tyson there who was walking his dog and didn't want it to get bitten, so he offered to go thirds.'
Urban Reptile Removal founder Chris Williams spoke to Yahoo News after securing the wild animal. The veteran snake handler and Australian Herpetological Society president has a detailed knowledge of where red-bellies live, and there are no recent records of them in Bondi Beach.
'It was an unseasonably warm day, and I guess it wasn't the only tourists soaking up the rays in Bondi Beach,' he said.
He shared a simple theory about how it made its way into the suburb.
'Finding one in Bondi is extremely rare, so rare in fact it wouldn't be a Bondi local — red-bellies can't afford that kind of real estate,' he joked.
'It would be a translocation. Red-bellies are known for being a species that's quite good at hitching a ride on the bottom of cars, so I'd say that's how he ended up there.'
Because the species is no longer found in the suburb, it posed an increased danger to residents and their pets.
'Never underestimate the bravado of a 10-year-old. There's always the chance one is going to do a Steve Irwin impersonation and grab it,' he said.
'But if it hadn't been picked up, and we're talking about negative scenarios, it would have been a curious dog that put its nose too close and copped a bite. And of course the vets around Bondi aren't going to have snake bite immediately on their radar.
'Vets can easily misdiagnose the symptoms and attribute them to something else. In a place like Bondi, you'd imagine they'd have a whole shopping list of options before they worked their way to snake bite, and by that time it might be too late for the dog.
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Remarkably, the red-belly wasn't the strangest rescue Chris attended on Wednesday. Over in the Dundas Valley near Parramatta, he was called out to help after a cat attacked a 70cm tiger snake.
'I'm not sure if it's going to survive the cat, but a tiger snake in an established suburb like that is a big deal for snake nerds,' he said.
'And for the wider reading population of Yahoo News, they should know it's a very rare find, and it's number four in the world in terms of venom, which is incredibly interesting.'
Chris believes that snake is likely part of a remnant population that's somehow survived the onset of cars, developers, and pet cats and dogs.
'A couple of years ago there was one in [nearby] Telopea, and prior to that one in North Rocks. There is a lot of bushland there that's interconnected, and I like the idea that they're able to cling onto that region,' he said.
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