It’s that time of year to take care when out in your back yard. The WILVOS Hotline 5441 6200 have started to receive a number of calls about snakes. WILVOS do have a list of snake catchers, or they can be found on the internet or in the yellow pages. These people perform this service as a business, so it is recommended that a price is settled on. It’s a good idea to find out who is in your local area and have the details handy. If someone finds a snake in the house, help is usually needed now!
One of our WILVO rescuers observed a carpet python, an eastern brown and a couple of tree snakes in his back yard last week. It is breeding time so snakes are on the move. Many people are not aware that sea snakes are as venomous as our eastern browns and should not be approached or handled if found on the beach or in shallow water.
One of our carers was horrified to find three pythons on her lorikeet aviary one night. Constant surveillance is needed with animals in aviaries to make sure the aviaries are snake proof. These amazing reptiles can get through the tiniest opening. Just having one on an aviary is enough to scare the inhabitants, so wildlife carers have to prevent this happening where possible. The use of night vision cameras have become a great help in observing the nightly adventures of wildlife in care.
Donna Brennan Wildlife Volunteers Assoc Inc (WILVOS) PO Box 4805 Sunshine Coast Mail Centre Q 4560 PH 5441 6200 www.wilvos.org.au