# Tiger Snakes in Yarra Bend Park, Melbourne



## nick_w (May 24, 2008)

Hi All,

I live in kew, near Yarra Bend Park in Melbourne. I do some snake busting part-time for a small pest removal business in the area (dont worry all licensed and above board) and was amazed last season by the large numbers of tigers and brown snakes living in kew, fairfield and ivanhoe. For those who dont know, these areas are heavily built up suburbs about 5-10mins drive from the middle of Melbourne's CBD.

Clearly the Yarra River and suburban rodent populations are supporting the local yet intense snake populations. I was wondering if anyone else here had had any encounters/experience with snakes in the area?

Cheers,

Nick


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## andyscott (May 24, 2008)

At the end of my street we have the Plenty River, which runs into the Yarra. In summer we get a few Tigers around here. The people that live about 7 houses down from me have homing pidgons, in summer they get Tigers in there back yard at least twice a week. Where there is pidgon coops there is rodents, happy Tigers :lol:


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## Kathryn_ (May 24, 2008)

I'll go you one further - a mate of mine lives in Brunswick overlooking the Merri creek and had a tiger show up inside the house!


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## rmcneill (May 24, 2008)

i live in williamstown, on the beach and we found a hatchling tiger snake in our kitchen! It was so cute


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## Cheesecake (May 24, 2008)

Tigers seem to be particularly common along the Yarra, especially in metropolitan parks such as Westerfolds and Birrarrung. There's a commercial seed producer facing onto the Yarra next to Birrarrung that frequently gets tigers visiting in spring and summer each year, much to their displeasure. 

David.


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## Oldbeard (May 24, 2008)

Some people I met recently were bushwalking in that area, and were told they would see tiger snakes there. 
They saw one about two feet in front of them and they reckoned it chased them. I asked them to tell me the story bit by bit. In no part of the story did it actually chase them but it was very funny to hear such a story.
Apparently they are very common in that area.


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## Oldbeard (May 24, 2008)

This is a link to some awesome pics. Its on another forum and I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post a link to it. 
Apologies if its not allowed feel free to delete it mods.
Great pics though
http://www.aussiereptilekeeper.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=52537#52537


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## nick_w (May 25, 2008)

Oldbeard - Thanks for the photos! Great shots of the flatted neck up close!

Kathryn - Amazing! They are truly awesome and adaptive snakes. Probably to do with that fact that their such good eaters! They seem to fit in nicely in the suburbs around the Yarra, which despite all the development, has still left plenty of suitable habitat for nesting and breeding (even as close to the CBD as Brunswick!).

rmcneill - I found a hatchling tiger snake in ivanhoe hiding behind a toilet last summer. It was in the UPSTAIRS bathroom! Unbelievable that no one saw it cruising up the stairs, but they defintly got a fright when someone when to the loo. He/she was biting my tongs and chewing on the rubber, with venom dripping off. Just awesome but so aggressive. After a little outburst that snake was pretty calm and i was able to hold him/her by the tail and re-released next darebin creek. They're defintly breeding all around the city thats for sure!

Cheesecake (David) - Sounds like that could be a good spot for herping over the summer.

Andyscott - I'm moving up to QLD in a few months, living in remote town in central qld bush. Im keen to put in a chicken coop or an aviary just to try and attract carpets. I lived in Borneo for a few years when I was younger, and our compound had lots of ducks and chickens, and lots of snakes because of them.


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## snakehandler (May 27, 2008)

We have removed them from Fitzroy Gardens, Royal Botanic Gardens, Rod Laver arena, 1 Spring street and the CBD itself, you should see the faces of the home owners in Toorak as well! Very surprised when you pull a tiger from under the bushes.


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## moosenoose (May 27, 2008)

I often go looking for and photographing them in the evenings (sometimes early mornings) after work if the traffic is too crazy on the Eastern Freeway. 5 minutes from my work in Collingwood and I'm on the ground in an outer region of Kew. Again the Yarra River is the main reason this area supports a vast population of tigers. Thank goodness 

Bundoora is also my other haunt for Eastern Browns & Whip snakes


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## baxtor (May 27, 2008)

nick_w said:


> rmcneill - I found a hatchling tiger snake in ivanhoe hiding behind a toilet last summer. It was in the UPSTAIRS bathroom! Unbelievable that no one saw it cruising up the stairs, but they defintly got a fright when someone when to the loo. He/she was biting my tongs and chewing on the rubber, with venom dripping off. Just awesome but so aggressive. After a little outburst that snake was pretty calm and i was able to hold him/her by the tail and re-released next darebin creek.


 
Hatchling tiger and tongs?:?


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## nick_w (May 28, 2008)

baxtor said:


> Hatchling tiger and tongs?:?


 
only to encourage the snake out of its possie. wouldnt want to hurt the little guy!


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## nick_w (May 28, 2008)

snakehandler said:


> We have removed them from Fitzroy Gardens, Royal Botanic Gardens, Rod Laver arena, 1 Spring street and the CBD itself, you should see the faces of the home owners in Toorak as well! Very surprised when you pull a tiger from under the bushes.


 
Hi there! I actually bought giant gentle tongs from you guys!
Thanks very much. I took them up to central qld over the summer and they came in very handy. Great product, thanks again!


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## snakehandler (May 28, 2008)

Not a problem, they can be useful at times, especially in places like sewers!


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## Lewnatic (May 28, 2008)

hey
i also have the plenty river at the end of my street... but i haven't heard of any homing pigeons in the area... well, its a big river.
i am about 2km upstream from where it runs into the Yarra, and we get Tigers in the backyard once or twice a year. a few years back i almost stepped on a hatchie tiger on the bank of the storm water creek in my backyard which runs on to the plenty.
this year we had to relocate our firewood pile, and dad and i saw a small length of what we assumed was a tiger... a big one too! after a little more inspection out crawled a beautiful blue tongue, with fantastic tiger like markings. clearest pale stripes on a dark background ive ever seen on a bluey. 
we used to get the occasional brown in the area, and i have clear memories of going out to see a brown which a neighbor had killed with a shovel. i didnt realise just how sad it was at the time. i must have only been 7 or 8. but i havnt heard about any browns around in close to 10 years.
still. love the tigers. i remember seeing a story in the local paper about a guy who died from stacking his bike onto a tiger on the local bike trail. how unlucky!! 
great stories everyone... keep them coming


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## nick_w (May 28, 2008)

Snakehandler - Yeah but you see now im lazy... I just use my tongs for everything. Lying on the couch, grab the remote, pass someone a tissue, the list goes on. I think they're more like 'life' tongs more than anything now haha

Lewantic - I've had the same thing happen, mistaking a bluey for a tiger! They can look SO similar if you only catch a brief glimpse.


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