Snake Catcher Melbourne: Mark Pelley says Covid-19 has led to most sightings ever

A Diamond Creek snake catcher is busier than ever answering a surge of calls for help. WATCH HIM WRANGLE REPTILES

A Diamond Creek snake catcher says Covid-19 has contributed to a surge in snake sightings across Melbourne this summer, and he’s never been busier.

Mark Pelley, known as The Snake Hunter, says his call outs have increased by 30 per cent compared with his usual summer average, with more people spotting snakes while they stay home due to the pandemic.

Recent jobs included a snake in a shower vent at an apartment in Alphington, and a snake in a toy box in Greensborough.

“Each year gets busier than the last, and this has been the busiest snake season for me in history, and one of the reasons is Covid,” Mr Pelley said.

“Covid has restricted the movements of people, which causes snakes to move around a lot more.

“Now that restrictions are pretty much over, people aren’t home as much as well, and that causes snakes to go into people’s houses and backyards much more than ever before.”

On a busy day in summer, Mr Pelley said he can catch up to 15-20 snakes a day.

“Now that the weather is warming up, snakes are going indoors a lot more because they’re looking for somewhere to cool down,” he said.

“So don’t be surprised if you come home from the beach one day and find a snake inside your house.”

Leader visited Mr Pelley’s Diamond Creek base to meet his team and a few of his slithery python friends, which he keeps as pets.
None of them were interested in eating the Killer Python lollies which we brought for them as treats.

Mr Pelley has expanded his team with one of his daughters, Aishah, 19, following in her father’s footsteps as his main assistant on jobs.

Aishah was originally looking at a career in medicine or science, but said she wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps because snake catching was “much more interesting”.

“I enjoyed watching him catch snakes, so I thought why not give a try,” she said.

”We make a good team, and some jobs are pretty difficult, so having us both there makes it way easier.”

They are also joined on the road by Mr Pelley’s border collie dog, Star, 4, who plays a key role in helping people stay back from the potentially deadly creatures.

“Star is really helpful in helping me find snakes, and Aisha is a brilliant as a backup when I’m unable to get a snake,” he said.

“She can go there, and we can have two people on the road rescuing people from snakes, and I’m really happy to have both of them in my team.”