Whitsunday snake catcher reveals bizarre encounters
Snake season has brought a surge of bizarre call-outs for Whitsunday snake catchers, including pythons on yachts and serpents blocking access to cold beverages.
A Whitsunday man’s night at home in front of the TV watching footy took a surprise turn when he went to grab a beer and found a snake curled around the handle of his fridge.
It’s just one of several unusual call-outs keeping local snake catchers busy as reptile season heats up across the region.
Whitsunday snake catcher Dale Mengel said the man posted a photo on Facebook asking how he was supposed to get a drink with a brown tree snake guarding the fridge.
When he arrived, he found the cheeky intruder still curled up on the handle stopping the man from cracking a cold one.
“That one gave me a bit of a nip actually,” Mr Mengel said.
“But us snake catchers are fairly used to that.”
Another call-out saw him spend 20 minutes pulling a carpet python out of a drain after a woman’s bathroom started flooding and when she investigated, spotted the unwelcome intruder.
He said he had to bend a coat hanger into a makeshift hook to gently get the snake out due to its delicate spine.
“It turned into a bit of a tug of war,” he said.
He was also asked to relocate a python who managed to sneak aboard a yacht at Coral Sea Marina, hitching a ride all the way from Mackay.
Mr Mengel said the snake must have climbed on while the boat was being worked on in a Mackay boatyard and needed to be returned to its home.
He said snakes usually just want to be left alone, adding that most bites happen when people try to handle them.
“They’re not aggressive, they’re defensive,” he said.
“If you leave them alone, they’ll leave you alone.”
The reminder comes after a woman in her 30s was bitten on the leg in Mandalay and taken to Proserpine Hospital in a stable condition.
A Mackay Hospital and Health Service spokesperson said she was one of 42 people treated for snake bites across the region since July 1, with numbers only increasing as snake season began.
That number included seven at Proserpine Hospital, six at Bowen and 25 at Mackay Base Hospital, with October alone seeing 20 cases, which was more than double the previous month.
The total number of snake bites from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025 was 171.
Mr Mengel said while snakes were transitioning from dormancy to increased activity looking for food and a mate, he had some basic tips to be mindful of when it came to protecting yourself and local snakes who played an important role in our ecosystem.
