Snake hot spots in Whittlesea: Residents fed up with council inaction

The hot spots for snakes across Melbourne’s northern suburbs have been revealed as locals accuse the council of allowing grass to grow “waist high”.

Frustrated residents across Melbourne’s northern suburbs fear a snake invasion with rising temperatures and long grass attracting a swarm of the slithery creatures.

Many residents have taken to social media to share their concerns about “waist-high” grass in public areas near homes, such as Botanica Park in Bundoora, Bellevue Park in South Morang and Mimosa Park in Mill Park.

Mill Park resident Braden Wise said he feared for his young daughter’s safety when taking her to the park to play.

“The grass was up to my daughter’s hip … there can potentially be snakes in this area and (Whittlesea Council) doesn’t care one bit,” Mr Wise said.

Mr Wise said he worked in land maintenance and understood how mowing works, so the council’s excuses didn’t hold up.

“The council are harassing people for rates …. but when it‘s on them, it’s a whole different ball game, it’s excuses and it’s too much rain, this or that,’’ he said.

“So that’s what is more annoying, people have to pay for this to be done.”

Other residents reported they’d recently seen snakes near Fulham Park Playground in Wollert and near Mill Park Secondary College.

A toddler narrowly escaped a brown snake in a Lalor backyard last week, when her mother pulled her away at the last second.

Snake catcher and Whittlesea resident Mark Pelley said he had seen the most snakes in homes in the Laurimar and Riverstone estates in Doreen as well as Lyndarum Estate in Epping and at homes across Mill Park.

He said the council needed to be more proactive in relocating snakes which were spotted near residential areas.

He claimed the council has instructed him not to move snakes in public areas such as residential footpaths as the council had to give permission to and pay private contractors who remove snakes from public property.

“I say to the council, ‘I‘ve just found a snake here in the path, it’s right near people’s homes. Can I get it?’”

“They say, ‘No, just leave it,’ … then it ends up going into someone‘s house and (the resident) has to call me to come out and they’ve got to pay me.

“(On multiple occasions) I could have solved the problem long before it went into someone‘s home.”

Mr Pelley said the council lacked “foresight” on the impacts of long grass in residential areas.

“I would like to work cooperatively with the council to try to do our best to prevent these incidents from happening in future,” he said.

Whittlesea Council has been contacted for comment.