Logan’s ‘Steve Irwin’ lists our top 10 snake suburbs

A Logan snake handler is warning residents near housing projects to ‘look out and love’ their reptile neighbours. Check out his list of the top 10 snake suburbs.

Glenn 'Ozzie' Lawrence from OzCapture Snake Relocation with a python in the Berrinba industrial area. AAP Image/Richard Walker

A LOGAN snake handler is warning residents near housing projects to “look out and love” their reptile neighbours.

Glenn “Ozzie” Lawrence, Logan’s answer to Steve Irwin and one of the city’s few licensed snake handlers, said he was concerned about a spike in wildlife deaths near new housing estates.

The Park Ridge and Chambers Flat local, who grew up in Logan, said those with herpetophobia, or fear of reptiles such as snakes, should be cautious on undeveloped blocks of land bordering new estates.

He listed Logan’s top 10 suburbs for displaced snakes and Brisbane’s top five.

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Licensed snake handler Glenn 'Ozzie' Lawrence from OzCapture Snake Relocation has listed Logan’s snake suburbs. AAP Image/Richard Walker

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Heading the list in Logan was Park Ridge, which until recently was mainly acreage lots, bordering the well-established suburbs of Crestmead, Regents Park and Boronia Heights.

That was followed by Chambers Flat, Logan Reserve, Yarrabilba, Flagstone, Greenbank, Jimboomba, Bahrs Scrub, Munruben and Tamborine.

Park Ridge is one of the suburbs where there are a lot of displaced snakes at the moment due to residential development near the suburb.

In Brisbane, the top five snake suburbs were Forest Lake, Springfield Lakes, North Lakes, Sumner Park, Griffin and all surrounding suburbs such as Dakabin.

“In my short, but busy, experience in snake relocations in Logan, I’ve found the suburbs which immediately surround areas that have been cleared over the past two years contain significantly higher volumes of many different species of snakes,” he said.

“The much older suburbs such as Logan Central, Marsden and Kingston have significantly lesser amounts of displaced animals.”

During his career as a snake handler, Ozzie said his company, OzCapture Snake Relocations, had found hundreds of animals injured or dead on the side of the road and had recently rescued some hit by cars.

Snake handler Glenn ‘Ozzie’ Lawrence says pythons will keep many properties clean of mice and vermin. AAP Image/Richard Walker

“In the past five months, we’ve conducted more than 100 rescues and snake relocations in Logan alone,” he said.

“With the growth in housing development, there is an increase in traffic in the area and these animals are losing their habitat and their food source at an alarming rate.

“This is when they are forced to go on to roads, into people’s houses and businesses and other environmental areas creating massive disruption to an already established ecosystem.”

Ozzie said he would like to see more land preservation for wildlife, and hoped residents would learn to better coexist with nature.

“People should learn to love snakes,” he said.

“Keelback snakes will help clean up the menacing cane toads because they eat them.

“The big old Coastal Carpet Python will gladly move in and clean up any rats or mice free of charge.

“They are running out of natural habitat fast and we must learn to live with them.”

Anyone who stumbles across a displaced snake, should move slowly away but always keeping an eye on the animal.

Don’t try to relocate or touch the animal and call a licensed snake handler.

If you have a snake you would like Ozzie to identify, call OzCapture Snake Relocations on 0444 533 836 or 0478 095 250.