Sarah Mailey from I’ll Catch It Snake Relocations Tweed Heads saves baby eastern brown eggs

To some, this may look like the nursery from hell. But a Tweed snake catcher who found a deadly mama brown and 17 of her highly venomous bubs in a suburban home was on a rescue mission.

For seasoned Tweed snake handler Sarah Mailey, a relatively routine relocation job turned into a delicate rescue operation to save a clutch of 17 deadly eastern brown snakes.

The Murwillumbah snake wrangler had removed the highly venomous mum-to-be from a house at Bilambil on the Queensland-New South Wales border, keeping it safe and sound overnight, prior to release in a more appropriate bush home the following day.

But when she discovered it had laid a clutch of eggs overnight, the focus turned to getting the bubs into an incubator in the exact same position they’d been laid.

“They have to stay the same way up, otherwise the embryo can be destroyed so I had to carefully pick them up one by one,” Ms Mailey said.

For mum it was back with Ms Mailey for another three days of rest and rehabilitation before her eventual release.

Seventeen eastern brown snake hatchlings just prior to being released in the Murwillumbah area in February 2025.

The eggs were kept in an incubator for two months and the hatchlings released late last week.

They were released together in a clutch to replicate what happens in the wild and the potential harsh reality that birds on the lookout whistle an alert for others to come and snap up a feed.

“As much as we love snakes we know they are food for our birds of prey,” Ms Mailey said.

Sarah Mailey from I'll Catch it Snake Relocations with a sizeable snake.

Ms Maily has been in the business of reptile rescue, rehabilitation and relocation for seven years and operates I’ll Catch It Snake Relocations with her partner across the Tweed and beyond – and it’s a full-on job.

“This morning I was up a high-rise at 4am in Tugun rescuing a python.

“But in the winter there’s not much work so we have to put away something for the quiet times.”

Tweed snake catcher Sarah Mailey. Picture: Supplied.

She has issued a warning at this time of year with lots of venomous snakes - and their hatchlings - out and about for people to avoid trying to kill them.

“Some people think they can’t afford to get a snake relocated so they try to kill it, but that’s often when bites occur.

“Yes, we charge a fee just like everyone else who goes to work to make money to survive, but in saying that we would never leave someone in a crappy situation because they have no money, so just chat to us and we can work something out.”

The venom of the eastern brown snake is rated as the second most toxic of all snake venoms in the world, next only to that of the inland taipan which is also a native of Australia.

And with the timely reminder, Ms Mailey points out “they can envenomate as soon as they are born”.

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Originally published as Sarah Mailey from I’ll Catch It Snake Relocations Tweed Heads saves baby eastern brown eggs