Queensland Brown Snake Found By 91-Year-Old In Retirement Village

A reptile wrangler recovered a venomous brown snake hiding inside the home of a 91-year-old retiree in Queensland after searching for it for more than one hour.

The handler, Stuart McKenzie, was called in to track the snake in the retirement village of Currimundi on the Sunshine Coast when the elderly resident reported seeing a brown-colored snake.

According to McKenzie, he initially thought the snake would be a whip or a tree snake.

He said that he was getting concerned as time passed, and he could not locate the snake.

The incident occurred on Wednesday. McKenzie works for the Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7 and has been working for more than seven years as a snake catcher.

He told reporters that his extensive search of the home left him with no clue as to where the snake was hiding.

McKenzie would finally find the eastern brown snake hiding in a narrow space in the sliding door inside the house.

The eastern brown snake is as venomous as they come, according to McKenzie, and the species is the second most venomous snake on earth.

The snake had found a one-centimeter space to slide through inside the sliding door.

McKenzie said a bite from this breed of snake could kill you if medical care is not immediately sought after.

He said that during summertime, he gets two to three calls everyday concerning the eastern brown snake hiding in homes. The calls are also mainly about pythons, but the eastern brown snake breed is common in the Sunshine Coast area.

The snake wrangler then posted a video on his Facebook page showing how the dangerous snake was rearing its head at him.

However, he said, he was not afraid of being bitten. His experience of working with snakes gave him confidence in how best to handle the situation.

Apparently, once the snake had trapped itself in the garage area, it had nowhere to go. The snake was rearing because it was preparing to bite.

McKenzie said the eastern brown snake species got a bad reputation, but it is a false reputation. That means the snake was petrified of people and will always try to get away first.

The captured snake was relocated to an area with a water source, thick bush, and available rodents for the snake to eat in a bushland region far away from the retirement village.

According to McKenzie, the snake was probably searching for food as well as shelter inside the retirement village.