Twenty-three brown snakes taken from Clarendon property in 12 months, termed worst seen by Snake Catchers Adelaide

DESCRIBED as the worst snake-infested property that South Australian catchers have ever seen, it’s certainly a realtor’s nightmare. But for the moment, just spare a thought for the hapless owners.

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IT has to be the most snake-infested property in South Australia.

On a quiet block at Clarendon, just south of Adelaide, an incredible 23 of the reptiles have been caught in just 12 months.

The first sighting last year resulted in a haul of four snakes from under the balcony of the split-level house.

Since then, Snake Catchers Adelaide has been kept constantly busy answering distress calls from the owners.

“For some reason, there are a lot of snakes at Clarendon, especially on the farm properties,” one of the company’s snake catchers, Ange Broadstock, told the Sunday Mail.

But at this overgrown property, the snakes have bred up and stayed because there’s a lot of food.

Rolly Burrell holds three deadly brown snakes from the Clarendon property. Picture: Adelaide Snake Catchers

“It’s pretty crazy, really, I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ms Broadstock said.

“Last season there were 17 from that place.”

Ms Broadstock said six brown snakes had been caught at the house in the past week, with three that were mating taken from the property on Thursday.
In South Australia, the most venomous snakes include the eastern brown, the red-bellied black, the copperhead, the western brown and tiger snake.

“Normally, your brown snakes are solitary animals, they live alone, so this time of year when it’s breeding season — September, October and November — we can find several snakes at once rather than just one,” Ms Broadstock said.

Ange Broadstock from Snake Catchers Adelaide with a massive brown she captured in Clarendon.

Snake catcher Steve Brown with a brown snake he caught at Clarendon.

“We’ve been catching some quite big snakes, too.”

Ms Broadstock said the snakes were large because of the ample food supply.

She said some large snakes had also been found around nearby McLaren Vale, but there wasn’t any more than usual — a result of the current weather pattern.

“This time last year where we didn’t even really get a spring and we had a lot of flooding up through the hills and a lot of rain,” she said.

But the temperature is set to heat up over the next few days throughout most of the state.

The warmer conditions have prompted the Australian Veterinary Association to encourage animal owners to take precautions to minimise the risk of snake bites.

AVA president Dr Paula Parker said it was best to try and keep horses, cattle and sheep away from bushy areas.

A female eastern brown with her eggs removed from under a fridge at Moana. Source Facebook

“Dog owners should try and avoid these areas when walking them at the end of the day and preferably keep them on the lead,” she said.

“If you keep your rabbits and guinea pigs in a hutch outside, then you’ll need to make sure you can keep snakes out of the hutch.

“Identify and cover all openings which are larger than one centimetre as some snakes have the ability to squeeze through small openings.”

New advise released by the Royal Flying Doctor Service also confirms that you are more likely to be bitten by a snake near your home than in the bush.

Just 2 per cent of snake bite cases result in death, however, a poisonous snake bite can have dramatic and long-term health implications.

If you are bitten by a snake, you are advised to seek help as soon as possible and keep movement to a minimum to avoid spreading the poison through your system.

However, recent medical advancements mean that any snake bite can be treated with generic antivenene, so identifying the snake is no longer necessary.