Cairns snakes: Redlynch Valley woman sees double with two snake encounters within 12 hours
A drill saw, flour and masking tape – it may sound like a home renovation gone wrong but those were the lengths needed to rid a Cairns home of not one but two unwanted reptile visitors.
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IT’S scary enough for many Far North residents to have one snake encounter in their home but this Redlynch Valley woman saw double within 12 hours.
On Wednesday, Tracey Kingston-Bull was trying to go outside from her laundry when a baby spotted python dropped on her head.
When she tried to capture the little critter, the snake managed to get shelter inside a gap in the corner of a cabinet.
“It was a mammoth effort to get the little bugger,” Ms Kingston-Bull said.
“We had to close off the laundry to get out.”
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Cairns Snake Removals owner Dave Walton was tasked with helping Ms Kingston-Bull remove the snake.
He had been at Ms Kingston-Bull’s property a mere 12 hours earlier to get rid of another snake.
“The first snake was slatey grey – it was crawling up the front screen door,” Mr Walton said.
“It’s trying to get inside to get out of the weather.
“We captured that snake and we took it away.”
However, that wasn’t the end of Ms Kingston-Bull’s problems – with a spotted python now setting up camp in the laundry.
“Snakes always find a little hole in the laundry cabinet,” Mr Walton said.
“It’s happened fifty times in my 20 years, cabinet makers leave a little square in the corner laundries.
“We couldn’t physically get hold of it.”
However, Ms Kingston-Bull was adamant the snake needed to go.
“She told me that I could start tearing the laundry to bits, it’s got to leave her house,” Mr Walton said.
“I didn’t want to, but she insisted.”
Armed with a small drill saw, Mr Walton cut a small hole in the wall – but he still couldn’t get to the snake.
“I pulled a panel of the wall but it’s gone behind the tiles,” he said.
He informed Ms Kingston-Bull that the snake was harmless and it would be recommended to wait for the snake to come out.
“If it was dangerous, I would continue to break things,” Mr Walton said.
“I told her to keep the door shut, seal it off, and put some powder down – and call me if it happens again.”
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Yesterday, the snake did come out – but got stuck on some masking tape stuck to the door.
“We had flour all over the floor and he tried to get under the door,” Ms Kingston-Bull said.
“We taped everything in the laundry – he was getting under the door.”
“She rang me and said we’ve got the little critter,” Mr Walton said.
“I told her to not throw it out the back door, it’ll come back in.”
The spotted python was relocated well away from the property at Barron Gorge.
Mr Walton said it was common for snakes in the Far North to seek refuge in the door tracks of screen doors.
“I’ve seen it many times,” Mr Walton said.
“Little spotty pythons like to get up in to the door tracks and when you open it, it falls on your head.”
Snakes are also trying to seek shelter during the wet season, so he recommended people to keep screen doors and windows shut.
However, some snakes can go through aluminium door holes.
“It’s just one of things, you need to be vigilant,” Mr Walton said.
“It’s one of the joys of living in North Queensland.”
He also recommended to call a snake catcher once you encountered a snake inside your house.
Originally published as Cairns snakes: Redlynch Valley woman sees double with two snake encounters within 12 hours