Not good news, but need information

[Adzo]

I agree with you Jonno, as I'm sure a lot of us do, but when John Citizen's water mains burst he can't fix that problem with a shovel. Why wouldn't he take care of the snake himself and save some coin?

 

[Jonno from ERD]

G'day Adzo,

It depends how you approach them. If you give them a mouthful when they ask about how much, then yes, they will typically take matters into their own hands. But if you explain the cost, and that you're on call 24/7 just to respond to calls like theirs, and give the snake a good wrap at the same time then generally they come around.

 

[Chris1]

acid? thats way cruel!!

id prefer to hear of the shovel tactic being used,...

 

[Leezel73]

I'm with you rockman!! I would protect my family!!! I love animals but if you didn't know much about snakes you wold probably think the worst!! But yes acid is a terrible way to go...

 

[Earthling]

Most snake bites are from people trying to kill or capture vens [ YAY snakes ] . The most stupid way to deal with [ he thought it was a Brown ] would be to really piss it off by spraying it with acid . Natural Selection will get him eventualy .

Actually that statement i believe is not true. I did a bit of research a few months ago in relation to snake bites resulting in human deaths (not snake bites not relating to human deaths) and found that here in Australia around 30 to 40% of snakebite human deaths occur as of people trying to kill or capture the snake.
There is no 'proper' research into this at all here in Australia, so to discover thsi percentage I talked to the foremost toxicologist with vens here in Australia, who provided me with his findings.
Most snake bites causing human deaths have been from the 'brown snakes' from purely random events...eg being bitten whilst asleep in bed.

But dont tell the shovel men, as you may provide them with more paranoid kill em till their dead intel.....

 

[Earthling]

Our minimum charge for a call out is $70. We don't budge on this as we are trying to shake the stigma that snake catchers should work for free. Once you factor in time, equipment, permits, insurance, fuel, vehicle maintanence, advertising, phone costs, website hosting and enough to put food on the table, it all adds up. At the end of the day, you wouldn't expect a plumber or electrician to drop everything, jump in his ute and come out to your place for free - they will charge you significantly more than $70!

Personaly I feel charging $70 for snake relocation in the city is fine, however in other areas of Australia if you charged $70 you wouldnt get a phone call, period.
It comes down to why your doing it and how much time and of your money snake relocation absorbs.
For me out here, I wouldnt get a phone call if I charged. The Rangers son in the next big town tried to charge, but to save a buck people would just grab a shovel instead.
Snake relocation is not my job, its my animal/community service, thus Im prepared to do it for free. Perhaps one day, when outback folk have a better appreciation/respect for snakes, they may donate for my services...its up to us.

 

[missllama]

if he was really doing it to protect his family wouldnt he have found a quicker way to kill it?
instead of spraying acid on it?
it just sounds like he might have tried to be cruel? because u know what a spider is like when u get bug spray on it? they bolt! i dont no what a snake would be like spraying acid on it but yea just sounds a bit fishy to me please no one take offence to this but i just think that it was a really horrible thing to do, i mean spraying acid on things with a 1yr old in the house is dangerous aswel...

beano05 please dont think that im being rude to u i understand u didnt do anything wrong

 

[redbellybite]

thats great earthling lets put more fear into the people that are plain ignorant about our snakes ..............i agree with Jonno on this one .I am a DMP holder for Queensland in the wide bay area of south east QLD, I have a cover charge depending on where you live from $10.00 to $60.00 what you people fail to understand is we dont get paid and most call outs are at least for me 55km + away from me add the fact like Jonno said on call 24/7 and yes I have had calls at 2am in the morning to come and get a carpet snake off someones veranda because their dog is barking at it and she cant sleep now knowing that there is a snake on her front porch.........we dont have a easy job we didnt get the license easily we put a lot of work and educational experience into it we try and do what is right for both the humans involved (including ourselves)and the snakes involved and charging a minute amount for that service isnt asking for much , but there will always be morons that justify killing an animal either because of lack of thinking or just plain out stupidity and heroism , the best way for a family man to take care of his own is relocating his family to a safe abode either outside if snake is inside or vice versa then the next step is to call someone to come and get the snake while at a safe distance WHICH IS POSSIBLE even for the non snake lover to do so when the snake catcher comes they know where the reptile is and it makes it easier on everyone..and in all the call outs i have done even when it is a venomous snake the fact that you are speaking and educating the persons/s that called you out explaining a few details of what they can do to make it a snake free place like tidy up around their home and if spotting a snake in the back yard get the garden hose out spray the snake on the face and you are able to move it along at a safe distance because the rep doesnt have eyelids so doesnt like to be sprayed in the face the fact that the hose is long enough to stand at a safe distance etc and they are quiet happy to have learnt more about the species and why we do need them in our enviroment ......I understand we want to protect our families dont get me wrong but safety is the key issue ,you know people comment it could kill my kiddies ---well so could a wandering dog do you run out and spray that with acid? the chances of that snake actually biting your child and killing it are slim the chances of that child getting into daddys cupboard and drinking the acid IS HIGHER ring your local hospital and ask how many snake bites to kiddies to the ratio of kiddie poisoning from chemicals kept at home.....COMMONSENSE is all is needed when it comes to finding a snake in your backyard or house ............

 

[Owzi]

He killed by spraying some type of acid on it.

By the time I had seen it, it was dark grey closer to black in colour ( he said that it changed colour since he sprayed it) about 1.7m long. no markings on the body. I know the Oenpelli python turns grey but does the markings disappear as well?

Firstly, i didnt know you could get "acid in a can". Sounds strange.

I would think you would be able to tell the difference in the head. Oenpellis, although a little elongated, do have a Morelia head, especially compared to Olives, Waters & Childrens.

Its reported they do change colour, similarly to Roughies, mostly from day to night.

Get us some pictures.

 

[caustichumor]

I think that some people would like to keep a can of "insect and reptile" killer at their back door, people will always kill snakes out of fear, Put in the right situation I would kill any animal that threatened my family, however most of these stories are a perceived threat, If he cut a guinea pig out of it, then the reptile was more then likely stuck in a guinea pig enclosure? with a bulge in it's belly. I guess pouring acid on it was a good way of killing a trapped animal...

 

[Beano05]

Sorry no pics as I was at work. It stunk that bad I barfed.

I am the unoficial local snake remover and I do it for free so this sort of thing doesnt happen but he didnt know. Its not advertised as it is not sanctioned by the local council. I also have not done any course as of yet but they are not done in Darwin.

It definatley wasn't a water python but the possibilty of being an olive. it had a very broad jaw and going very narrow at the nose in a triangular sort of shape.

 

[Pineapplekitten]

The bloke had a 1 & 8 year old child in the house and his wife . By the look of it , he thought he was protecting his family . How many people here , that called him a clown or a a.r.s.e. , have got kids ?? , just curious what you would do to protect your 1 year old ?

i wouldnt be spraying acid around children anyway. and it is cruel no matter what way you look at it.

 

[waruikazi]

You could do a scale count, olives have around 3 scales across the top of their head between their eyes and oenpellis have alot more.

 

[Beano05]

The snake is long gone the smell was too putrid for me to handle. I tried doing a scale count on the back from belly to belly but I got as far as the thirties before I puked and I only reached about half way.

I am taking my book and some other pictures to the guy tonight to make sure he doesnt make the same mistake twice.

 

[rockman]

Our minimum charge for a call out is $70. We don't budge on this as we are trying to shake the stigma that snake catchers should work for free. Once you factor in time, equipment, permits, insurance, fuel, vehicle maintanence, advertising, phone costs, website hosting and enough to put food on the table, it all adds up. At the end of the day, you wouldn't expect a plumber or electrician to drop everything, jump in his ute and come out to your place for free - they will charge you significantly more than $70!

Jonno , by no means was i having a dig at the people that are charging for relocating reptiles . I think that it is cheap for the fact you are on call , doing the right thing .
The point i was trying to make was that to get someone there that quickly , the snake might have been gone, where-ever in the house .

Also , another point been brought up , in todays financial climate , some familys would not consider spending $70 on getting someone out to relocate the reptile , when they might be spending the weekly family fuel / food allowance , doing the right thing .

I know , after just losing approx $100k in a bad busisness deal , if a 1.8mtr eastern brown lands on my front door , it will become endangered . I will not wait up to an hour and spend $70 moving it , and i like snakes .

Any ven-loving relocator want to be on standby for me , for free , to move it , feel free to pm me with your details .

Just my opinion .
Cheers

 

[cement]

Hmmm, what sort of mindset was he in to cut a friggin guinea pig out of the snake???

Answer- Cruel and unusual. Obviously he hated the snake because it ate his pet, the acid was a pre-meditated act and it was meant to hurt.

Oenpelli is the never,never, don't people that live out there understand the local wildlife?

A guinea pig for christ sake.

 

[rockman]

Positive number one: He didn't use a gun to kill his family, I mean snake...
QUESTION , WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT A GUN ? HE WAS PROTECTING HIS FAMILY .
Positive number two: You can now tell him how he can safely and cheaply remove any snake from the house - $50??? That's not too bad to save your family.
AS LONG AS HE HAS A SPARE $50 AND TIME TO WAIT , IT IS CHEAP .
Positive number three: It can't be a childrens python at 1.7m (can it???)
FAIRLY HUGE CHILDRENS PYTHON THERE SLIM , LOL , TO THE AVERAGE PUNTER A SNAKE IS A SNAKE , THEY ALL THINK THAT THEY ARE TAIPANS . LOL
Negative number one: Household acids etc - unpleasant to say the least - far more dangerous to have in a house than a brown tree snake or python...
HOUSEHOLD ACIDS - MORE DANGEROUS THEN A BTS , WHAT ABOUT A CRANKY CORNER TAIPAN ???? .
Do the right thing first - help family into safe location, call the appropriate authorities and have the snake safely removed for everyone's protection - an angry snake is a dangerous snake no matter what flavour they are!
HEY , WE AGREE ON SOMETHING .
And I have children (or child) and I live in a supposed high density snake area (though I barely see them).
I HAVE PULLED A COUPLE OF BITEY THINGS STRAIGHT ACROSS THE ROAD FROM YOUR PLACE SLIM , BE AWARE , THEY ARE THERE .
And I have a healthy fear of venomous snakes.

Cheers

 

[bubbaloush]

To me sounds like he wanted to kill the snake to get the guinea pig and bury it, what a cruel act to do.



I know of two snake relocators near me and if we had one in the house it would be grab both kids and the mobile go outside safe away from the snake and call one of them or the other if one is busy.

I don't see why having kids is an excuse to kill a snake, we have a 1yo and 4yo and would not even think about harming a ven if it was in the house or in the garden.

 

[waruikazi]

Jonno , by no means was i having a dig at the people that are charging for relocating reptiles . I think that it is cheap for the fact you are on call , doing the right thing .
The point i was trying to make was that to get someone there that quickly , the snake might have been gone, where-ever in the house .

Also , another point been brought up , in todays financial climate , some familys would not consider spending $70 on getting someone out to relocate the reptile , when they might be spending the weekly family fuel / food allowance , doing the right thing .

I know , after just losing approx $100k in a bad busisness deal , if a 1.8mtr eastern brown lands on my front door , it will become endangered . I will not wait up to an hour and spend $70 moving it , and i like snakes .

Any ven-loving relocator want to be on standby for me , for free , to move it , feel free to pm me with your details .

Just my opinion .
Cheers

And that is the perfect way to get yourself bitten!

Just last night i had a guy who tried to do my job for me and got himself tagged. $70 is a small price to pay in keeping yourself safe. But hey if you want to play the hero go for it!

 

[rockman]

And that is the perfect way to get yourself bitten!

Just last night i had a guy who tried to do my job for me and got himself tagged. $70 is a small price to pay in keeping yourself safe. But hey if you want to play the hero go for it!

Not trying to play hero , but not waiting an hour while i have an eastern brown at the front door .

Cheers Gordo