Hervey Bay snake catcher called to unusual shopping centre rescue

Shoppers at a major Stockland centre had an unexpected encounter when a snake popped up in an indoor Coles trolley bay.

Shoppers at Stockland Hervey Bay had an unexpected visitor recently when a green tree snake was found perched on a Coles shopping trolley.

Drew Godfrey, from Hervey Bay Snake Catchers, was called to the scene with his wife, Katie Airey, after reports of the reptile in the indoor trolley bay.

Upon arrival, he nearly walked straight past the snake before Ms Airey spotted it.

“Right there, a tree snake,” she points out in the now viral video.

“Shows how good I am at noticing them,” Mr Godfrey jokes.

The couple had just finished their own shopping when they received the call-out to return to the centre.

The harmless green tree snake appeared relaxed on the trolley handle as Mr Godfrey carefully picked it up, noting how it could have startled someone reaching for a trolley.

“I tell people they will turn up everywhere,” he explained when speaking to this publication on Saturday.

“You will get them at the shops and everything.”

Hervey Bay Snake Catcher Drew Godfrey with an eastern brown snake.

A well-known snake catcher in the region, Mr Godfrey was nominated for Citizen of the Year at the 2024 Fraser Coast Australia Day Awards for his contribution to wildlife conservation, and rescuing snakes from shopping centres was nothing new for him.

Recently, in the span of a week, Mr Godfrey had three separate snake rescues at the Eli Waters shopping centre

He was first called to Harvey Norman to catch a whip snake and then later that week he removed a keelback from inside Woolworths while shoppers continued their day.

Then, in the shopping centre car park, he rescued a tree snake from the roof of a woman’s car, after she had unknowingly been driving around with it on-board

One of his more memorable rescues involved retrieving a python from a toilet after dismantling pipes under a house, only to be called back two days later for another python in the same spot.

“That was during breeding season. The first one was a female, and she was probably trying to shed, so they will go soak themselves,” he said.

“The second was a boy, so he was probably looking for where his lady went, and the last known spot he could smell was in there.”

Mr Godfrey stressed that snakes prefer to stay away from people and are usually just minding their own business.

“People only get bitten when they harass snakes, if they try and catch them or hurt them, and the snakes defend themselves, rightfully so,” he said.

“The vast majority of snake bites happen when they interfered with the snake.”

Drew Godfrey from Hervey Bay Snake Catchers

Mr Godfrey warned that handling a snake was not only dangerous but also illegal, urging people to leave it to the professionals.

“There’s a lot more involved in relocating wildlife than people realise,” he said, explaining that relocating snakes into the wrong habitat could also be detrimental.

“It’s dangerous to you, but it’s dangerous for the animal as well.”

Originally published as Hervey Bay snake catcher called to unusual shopping centre rescue