Sean Shares Summer Snake Safety Tips

Hawkesbury residents are urged not to approach or try to kill or remove snakes by themselves, but to call in a professional.

Snake wrangler Sean Cade from Australian Snake Catchers said if you see a snake, keep the kids and pets away.

“If you can, keep an eye on where it goes,” Sean said.

“Don’t approach any snake.

“Do not attempt to touch the snake.

“Call a professional.”

Sean said There were so many different snakes - tree snakes, death adders, diamond pythons, black snakes, red belly blacks and then there’s the Eastern Brown.

“ID is key,” he said.

“Call a professional.”

Recently, Sean went to a place with a 4ft redbelly in the front and a 4ft Eastern brown out the back.

“There’s a popular belief that if you have a red belly, you won’t have an Eastern Brown,” he said.

“That is a myth.

“If the snakes are the same size, they can’t eat each other; they will cohabit, no worries.”

Sean said that residents can get a snake first aid kit from the Hawkesbury Visitors Centre.

“It has two triangle bandages and a couple of compression bandages, one is an indicator bandage,” Sean said.

“It starts out with rectangles and when you stretch it out they become squares and that’s the right amount.

“The kits cost about $23 which helps the community as well.”

The kits contain:

An emergency action card and detailed snake bite first aid instructions;

Two heavy compression bandages including one with compression indicators, to bandage bites; and

Two triangle bandages for slings and immobilisation.

You can drop into the Hawkesbury Visitor Information Centre in Richmond between 9 am and 4 pm daily, or phone 02 4560 4620 to arrange to get one of the snake bite first aid kits.

If you find yourself in need of a snake wrangler, give Australian Snake Catchers a call on 0410 761 575.

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• Pets & Wildlife