WHEN a Tamworth pest inspector slithered into the roof of a local home this week, he did not expect to find this scaley surprise.
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Brock Pearson, of Pearson Pest, was performing a routine termite inspection on a local property when the customer mentioned they had been hearing noises in the roof.
“Further investigation of the roof area revealed a four-foot Eastern brown snake had found its way into the roof of the home and then became lodged in the wall cavity, unable to make its way out,” Mr Pearson said.
“Normally pest controllers don’t deal with snakes, it’s more a WIRES issue, but in this instance retrieval was fairly straight forward since the snake had already died a day or two earlier.
“It’s an unusual occurrence but it does happen.”
The discovery comes just days after a 24-year-old Tamworth man died after being bitten by a suspected brown snake.
A four-foot Eastern brown snake had found its way into the roof of the home and then became lodged in the wall cavity, unable to make its way out.
- Brock Pearson
His family rushed him to Tamworth hospital, and despite administering anti-venom and resuscitation attempts, he died within an hour.
The WIRES local branch has had about 20 call-outs to snake sightings this warm season, with Eastern browns accounting for the majority of sightings.
The RSPCA Tamworth Volunteer Branch is now doing its bit to help raise reptile awareness.
The group has teamed up with Pets Domain to host Reptile Awareness, a display of pet snakes and other reptiles.
The display will be at Pets Domain on Bridge Street, Tamworth, this weekend between 10am and 2pm.
If anyone comes across a snake in the wild, they should stand still until it moves away, call WIRES on 1300 094 737 and, if possible, keep an eye on it.
It’s believed there have been fewer than 40 deaths from snake bites in Australia since 2000, with the brown snake considered to be one of the deadliest in the country.