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Watch the moment snake catchers pull out five carpet pythons out of Gold Coast home roof

A POPULAR snake catcher had a tough day at the office when he copped a nasty bite - and the drama wasn’t over yet. WATCH THE VIDEO

Gold Coast snake catcher gets bitten by python

A BITE from a snake would be enough to make most people squeal.

But it was all in a day’s work for popular snake catcher Tony Harrison - who still had teeth embedded in his hand almost 24 hours later.

The incident occurred as Mr Harrison and wife Brooke, from Gold Coast and Brisbane Snake Catchers, battled with five carpet pythons in the roof of a house in Bilinga around 8pm last night.

“One of them grabbed me by the finger. But he didn’t give me a good bite. Those particular pythons have small teeth of probably 6ml long,” Mr Harrison said.

“He only had about five or six teeth so I was just left with a couple of holes in my finger.

“While I was doing the reptile show this afternoon, a bearded dragon rubbed against my finger and I could feel a tooth still in there. So I had to pick it out.”

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Gold Coast snake catcher Tony Harrison trying to remove the pythons from a Bilinga roof. Photo Brooke Harrison
Gold Coast snake catcher Tony Harrison trying to remove the pythons from a Bilinga roof. Photo Brooke Harrison

GOLD COAST SNAKE CATCHER TONY HARRISON CALLED TO ASHMORE COATHANGER

The couple were called to the home after residents heard sounds of something sliding around in their roof.

But the homeowners were shocked to discover that there were five snakes in their house which took the Harrisons an hour to remove.

“The biggest one would have had to been about 1.6 to 1.8 metres tops, and about as thick of a wrist,” Mr Harrison said.

“They weren’t that big for carpet pythons.”

The snake catcher thinks there are probably more of them in the roof he couldn’t find.

“In this case, we were lucky all five of those were out. I still reckon there wold be more snakes up there we couldn’t see,” he said.

“Often they get into wall cavities, or places you can’t see or get into.”

Gold Coast snake catcher Brooke Harrison with two carpet pythons wrapped around her right arm. Photo: Tony Harrison
Gold Coast snake catcher Brooke Harrison with two carpet pythons wrapped around her right arm. Photo: Tony Harrison

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Mr Harrison, who has been catching snakes for 24 years, said the most he pulled out of a roof at one time was 17 snakes.

Mr Harrison said he films video of the snakes he catches to help educate the public.

“A lot of people have the wrong idea about snakes. So we like to do it for educational purposes and to show the public the good, bad and the ugly of our job and the hours we put in,” Mr Harrison said.

“I like to see the public realise the effort we hours we put in — from birthdays, Christmas, and even while my mum was dying of cancer... we are still catching snakes and we never stop.

“We started at 5am yesterday and finished at 11.30pm.”

Snake catcher Brooke Harrison with two pythons wrapped around her arm in the Bilinga roof. Photo: Tony Harrison
Snake catcher Brooke Harrison with two pythons wrapped around her arm in the Bilinga roof. Photo: Tony Harrison

With temperatures warming up, the slippery serpents are coming out to play.

Mr Harrison has two tips to avoid snakes and pythons from finding a home in your roof.

“Trim trees away from the house,” he said.

“Consider getting gutter guard to try to deter them.”

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Original URL: https://www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/news/watch-the-moment-snake-catchers-pull-out-five-carpet-pythons-out-of-gold-coast-home-roof/news-story/88832879a4e640d20e86dc4cd3a3908b