Mt Barker mum shocked when her son found a 1.5m brown snake in the loungeroom

A MOUNT Barker mother of two had the shock of her life when her 12-year-old son told her there was a severely agitated brown snake slithering along her loungeroom floor.

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A MOUNT Barker mother of two had the shock of her life when her 12-year-old son told her there was a severely agitated brown snake slithering along her loungeroom floor.

The lethal 1.5m creature had somehow found its way inside the house at Dalemeny, Waterford Estate, probably to cool off from the summer heat.

Samantha Jones, 36, who has lived in the house for six years, said it was the first time she had seen a snake on the property and she is understandably concerned that she cannot figure out how it slithered into her house sometime before 1pm on Monday.

“My son (Alex, 12) was in the lounge with my friend’s child, who is only six, looking at some DVDs when he said there was a snake,’’ Mrs Jones said.

“My friend saw my son’s face and she knew he was serious. It was about a metre from where they were just sitting on the carpet, playing with Lego.

“I have three full-length windows and (the snake) was slithering along them trying to get out. It was pretty agitated and it would have bitten them if they were there.’’

The snake was slithering along the windows in an apparent effort to get outside. Picture: Samantha Jones

Her friend called a professional snake catcher from Snake-Away Services while Mrs Jones sat high on a couch, watching the snake’s every move.

“The snake catcher arrived within 15 minutes ... I was pretty relieved because I didn’t want to spend any more time with that snake,’’ she said.

“I don’t know how it got inside, which is the frightening thing.’’

Mrs Jones said she had been given some advice from the snake catcher and will try to snake proof her home.

She said the invading snake might have come from moss rocks in her front yard.

Snake-Away Services managing director Ian Renton said 75 per cent of his company’s work was done in the inner suburbs.

Mount Barker woman Samantha Jones had a very unwelcome visitor in the form of a 1.5m brown snake in her loungeroom. Picture: Samantha Jones

He said Adelaide’s hot start to summer caused an early breeding season with many juvenile snakes ready to leave the nest.

“We’re getting 30 to 40 calls a day at the moment but I think that will increased to 50 or 60 calls once the juveniles start to move in the next two weeks,’’ he said.

Adult brown snakes are the second most venomous land snake in the world, behind the inland taipan, and can travel 1km a day searching for food.

They sometimes lie along the bottom of a door of an air conditioned house trying to cool down, Mr Renton said.

“Brown snakes are very timid but they will strike without provocation to defend themselves,” he said.

Originally published as Mt Barker mum shocked when her son found a 1.5m brown snake in the loungeroom