A Sydney family have had a terrifying close call when a red-bellied black snake slithered into their daughter’s bedroom.
The highly venomous snake had made its way into the family’s home in Picton, in Sydney’s southwest, on Sunday afternoon, snake catcher Cory Kerewaro from Reptile Relocation Sydney said.
“We got the call after the family’s cavoodle had actually found the snake slithering through their house and his commotion alerted the family,” he told 7NEWS.com.au.
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“It had slid into the toy room and curled up amongst the toys, before the family shut the door on it and placed a towel under the door so it couldn’t get out.”
Kerewaro said capturing the snake was a pretty “straightforward” call out.
“It’s pretty routine stuff for us, we pick them up by the tail and put them straight in a bag,” he said.
“But then the daughter… she was petrified to go back in, so we spoke to her for a while and reassured her and gave her advice.”
As we enter the warmer months, Kerewaro warns snakes may begin slithering into more garages and onto patios seeking shelter.
“I do this all day every day … but we generally see calls start to pick up in September and that lasts till about April … that’s what we would typically call the snake season,” he said.
“But during the warmer months in December, for example, we find them on patios and garages and going into houses because they can’t self-regulate their temperature … they seek shelter to cool off, and so we start to find them in different places.”
Kerewaro shared an incredible image of the terrifying close call to social media, showing the snake hiding amid a pile of soft toys.
“PS no squishmallows were hurt during this relocation,” he joked.
The Picton family, “absolutely” did the right thing after finding the deadly snake, Kerewaro added.
“They got their dog to safety … and contained the snake to the room, then they called us, and kept an eye on the door to make sure it didn’t get out,” he said.
If you come across a snake in your home, remove all children and pets from the area, then if it safe to do so, isolate the snake to the room by closing the doors and putting towels along the bottom of the doors.
Wires or any other nearby Reptile Relocation services should then be called.