Seasoned Mount Gambier snake catcher shocked by six-snake discovery at Tarpeena

A Mount Gambier snake catcher has made the largest discovery in his 25 years on the job – six snakes – found at a South East home.

Snake catcher David Miles from South East Snake Awareness. Picture: Jessica Ball

A tiger snake spotted near a home’s front door led to the discovery of the largest haul of snakes a Mount Gambier snake catcher has seen in his 25 years on the job.

David Miles from South East Snake Awareness caught six snakes close to a populated area of Tarpeena in a 2m-by-2m pile of fencing equipment on Saturday.

“I lifted a sheet and there was the tiger and a copperhead there as well,” Mr Miles said.

“It was a bit surprising so I said we better check the whole lot and when we finally lifted all the sheets I ended up with four tiger snakes and two copperheads.

“It’s unusual to have that many snakes in a small area like that and it’s the first time I’ve seen tiger snakes and copperheads together.”

A copperhead snake caught at Mount Gambier Prison by snake catcher David Miles from South East Snake Awareness. Picture: Jessica Ball

In the space of two days Mr Miles caught eight snakes including a copperhead found loitering near the prisoners’ units at the Mount Gambier Prison on Friday night and was called to help police relocate a second from Potters Point Lookout on Saturday night.

In what he described as a regular season, he has removed 19 including one from a Coorong bedroom and another from a bathroom at Mil-Lel.

Mr Miles said the region was home to brown snakes, the second most venomous land snake in the world, tiger snakes and lowland copperheads with the later being common around Mount Gambier’s lakes.

“People think they are red belly black snakes but we don’t actually have red belly black snakes here,” he said.

“Sometimes they come in on a stinking hot day, either for water or to cool down. They don’t seem to handle too much temperature over 38 down here.”

Mr Miles has first hand experience with venomous bites after one of the tiger snakes he uses in educational sessions mistook his thumb for a mouse a few months ago.

Snake catcher David Miles from South East Snake Awareness with the tiger snake that bit him last year. Picture: Jessica Ball

“Tiger snakes are very painful, I can guarantee that,” he said.

“He pumped a fair bit of venom into me, they had to give me 3000 units of antivenom.

“It’s part of the job, 25 years of handling snakes and that’s the first time I’ve been bitten.”

It has not scared him off and potentially only made him more passionate about life saving powers of snake first aid.

He says if you spot a snake, stand still, walk away slowly while watching both the snake and where you are going and if you are bitten, stay calm, move slowly, bandage the limb, call an ambulance and immobilise the whole body.

“Snakes are part of nature, they were here before we were,” he said.

“We only ever seen about 3 per cent of the snakes we walk past because they are masters of disguise they don’t want to be near us, they want to escape.

“Their second last means of defence is to sit up and look ugly and threaten and their last means of defence is to bite.”