The family had been removing the insulation from their roof in their home in Hunchy, Queensland, when they discovered a few skins, indicating that snakes had been lurking there for a long time.
They called snake catcher Stuart McKenzie from Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7 to assist in removing the insulation and catch any remaining snakes hiding in the roof.
McKenzie ended up finding 30 to 50 snake skins in total. Snakes typically shed their skin between four and 12 times a year.
In footage taken by the snake catcher, McKenzie can be seen investigating the roof, with a headtorch.
As he looks around the roof, he says there is a lot of “snake activity” around. He points to several piles of snake feces and urine.
“That’s a big one,” he says, as he finds a carpet python skin tucked in a corner of the attic.
McKenzie then continues to dig through the roof insulation and eventually comes across a live, brown tree snake that had been hiding under the padding.
The snake catcher gently removes the intruder from its hiding place and puts it in a bag. Brown tree snakes are native to Australia and mildly venomous. They have a reputation for being aggressive however their bites are not dangerous, and usually only cause a slight sting.
In the video, McKenzie releases the snake back into its natural habitat. He says the snake is likely confused at being released in the middle of the day, as it is a nocturnal species.
“It was good to get one out of there,” he says.
The snake catcher then returns to the attic to make sure there are no more snakes lurking under the roofing.
Later, McKenzie shows the camera a “pretty big haul” of the 30 to 50 snake skins pulled out of the attic.
He says that the skins are from “three main snakes” that are commonly found in roof spaces: common tree snakes, brown tree snakes and carpet pythons.
“We did a very thorough search,” he says. “A lot of these are old, there are a couple of fresh ones but with roof spaces there can be little gaps and holes in walls they can get into. Pretty happy with this, the clients were happy, at least they know there’s nothing dangerous up there.”
The snake season in Australia is just coming to an end. Snakes are typically more active in the country during the warmer summer months, from October to April.
In a Facebook post describing the find, McKenzie said it is common to find snakes lurking in the attic. He said the roof space is a “perfect spot” for some species of snake to hide and seek out prey.
“It provides shelter as well as food in the form or rats, mice and geckos,” he said.
People can even let the snakes live in the roof to act as “free rodent control,” McKenzie said. However, he said if the snakes begin making a lot of noise, or if residents do not feel comfortable with them being up there, snake catchers can attend the property to carry out a “full roof inspection.”
