Tania Corby: Shepparton snake catcher’s hair-raising relocations

A snake caught in a Christmas tree and three snakes fighting in a bathroom are some of the more grisly catches for this Goulburn Valley catcher. See the pictures.

In her seven years of catching snakes, Goulburn Valley’s Tania Corby has seen it all.

A snake caught in a Christmas tree, a 6ft brown with its head poking out of a family’s front door step, and three snakes fighting in a public toilet are just some of the more unusual relocations.

But with eight of her own snakes — including a taipan, one of the world’s most deadliest — Ms Corby, 50, says she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Snakes are my kids,” she said.

“But the reason I love catching is because I like to educate people.

“Snakes use their venom to digest their food. They don’t have stomach acid but people don’t realise that.

“They just see them a poisonous and dangerous.

“But they will only attack when they feel trapped.”

Ms Corby with one of her snakes.

Ms Corby's thumb after she was bitten by a snake in 2018.

Ms Corby was bitten by a tiger snake in Shepparton in 2018 but said it was because of human error.

She said the pain was excruciating and she had to be flown to Melbourne.

“I had a black thumb and was very crook,” she said.

“I lost the padding on my thumb but my biggest problem was having to wait to get back out there and catch snakes. I hated waiting.”

Although snake bites are not common, a woman was attacked in September in Central Victoria. In her 50s, she was bitten near the High St Health Clinic, near Chapel St, in Bendigo.

She was treated and released the following day.

Tragically, a 49-year-old Taradale father was killed three months ago after he was bitten by a snake at a Castlemaine tip. He collapsed hours later, not knowing he had been bitten.

Ms Corby said snakes were common across the state.

But she said it was important that people call their snake catchers as soon as they spot one.

“And stay calm,” she said.

“If you do get bitten, it’s important to stay still. You don’t want to move and spread the poison.

“Apply a bandage and get to hospital.”

Ms Corby has caught hundreds, if not thousands, of snakes across her career.

She said she recently relocated a snake near Shepparton, hidden in a crack at a family’s front door.

“I could only see the size of its head but that is always deceiving,” she said.

“Because when I pulled it out it just kept coming, coming and coming.”

The snake was a 6ft brown snake.

“The family stayed inside while I got it out,” Ms Corby said.

The brown snake Ms Corby caught in the Goulburn Valley. Picture: supplied

Ms Corby in action. Picture: supplied

Last season she also helped a man with terminal cancer realise his dream in Rushworth.

He had a brown snake at his property and had always wanted to touch one so after Ms Corby caught it, she let him.

“We made sure it was safe to do so, but the look on his face was priceless,” she said.

“He really loved snakes.”

A few years ago Ms Corby also had to get a tiger snake out of a Christmas tree in a Nagambie home.

“It had come in through his front door and went straight up the tree,” she said with a laugh.

“The owner got out of the home pretty quickly.”

One of the snakes Ms Corby caught in the Goulburn Valley. Picture: supplied

Another brown snake Ms Corby caught in the Goulburn Valley prepares to strike. Picture: supplied

Then there was a time Ms Corby walked into an Ardmona public toilet and found three brown snakes fighting.

“The two males were fighting over the female,” she said.

“One got out but I was able to capture and relocate the other two.”

Ms Corby said it had been a slow start to the season for the Goulburn Valley but she expected it to last longer.

A snake Ms Corby found stuck in a pipe. Picture: supplied

Another with a can stuck on its head.

In Bendigo, Greater Bendigo Snake Control owner Tameeka Stevens said September was a busy time for snakes.

Ms Stevens said the snakes were coming out to bask in the sun and fatten up for mating season.

The snake catcher said September was critical for males to bulk up for combat in October and November, the height of the reptile activity.

Ms Stevens said snake activity was also weather dependent, with warmer days luring the reptiles out into the open and windy days putting them in hiding.

Tameeka Stevens has started a new snake catching business Greater Bendigo Snake Control. Picture: Contributed

While a love was on the snakes’ radar, Ms Stevens said humans were “definitely not on the menu”.

“They can discern predator from prey,” she said.

“Mice (sized animals) are on the menu for these guys.

“They see us as predators.”

Ms Stevens said there was no known change in snake behaviour after their winter slow period, joking “it’s not a matter of them being hangry”.

But Ms Stevens said everyone had to be mindful and vigilant that snakes were out and about.

She said anyone who suspected they had been bitten should stay still, stay calm and call triple-zero.

Ms Stevens said someone with a snake bite should apply pressure, but be careful not to block circulation.