Hosing a snake can make it attack, says Rutherford snake handler

Judy Martin, of Reptile Rescue Rutherford, said a group, who she did not wish to identify, had been taking reports of snakes in the Maitland area recently and had told people to use the water from a hose to spray the creatures to scare them away.

But she said turning a hose toward most breeds of snake was extremely dangerous.

Ms Martin said the dangerous wrong advice showed the importance of people knowing who the qualified and insured reptile rescue experts were in the Hunter.

“They [snakes] don’t chase you unless you stir them up, poke them or hose them,” she said.

“You should never, ever hose a brown snake. They think the water is something attacking them and all you’re going to do is make it cranky.

“Keep and eye on the snake and get someone to call a qualified and insured snake catcher.

“Some people think that because they are keepers, that they are qualified catchers, but it’s a different type of licence.”

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Ms Martin said brown snakes were common in the Maitland and Lorn areas, which were close to the  Hunter River.

She said her organisation received up to 20 calls a day. About half of those were for advice and half for snake catching services.

According to Ms Martin, about nine out of 10 snakes found in the Maitland and Lorn areas were venomous brown snakes.

“It depends on the weather because if there is a bit of rain the snakes don’t come out,” she said.

“But we get 10 to 15 calls a day; that’s about average for us.

“We’ve been getting a lot of people just phoning for advice, which is good because it means they don’t take the shovel to it.”

Snakes will likely be highly visible at this time of year before the annual breeding season finishes in November.

Visit www.environment. nsw.gov.au/resources/wildlifelicences/reptilehandler list.pdf for a list of ­qualified and insured snake catchers in the Maitland area.