It’s the height of irresponsibility that there are people in the Hunter pretending to be reptile experts, telling people to frighten snakes away by spraying them with a hose.
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Reptile Rescue Rutherford catcher Judy Martin has told the Mercury of multiple reports recently that an unidentified group had been taking reports of snake sightings in the Maitland area and offering dangerous advice.
Passing themselves off as qualified experts in reptile behaviour and rescue, the group has been telling people to use a hose to spray snakes that have appeared nearby to scare them away.
Ms Martin was emphatic in her call for people not to take this advice on board.
While a few breeds of snake will not be provoked if they are sprayed with water, most will become aggressive and attack the water and the person holding the hose.
In the case of the highly poisonous brown snake, which is common in the Maitland and Lorn areas, this could prove deadly.
The warning is a lesson that people should make sure that any advice about animals, particularly dangerous reptiles, comes from a legitimate and qualified source.
Some people in the community would know immediately that spraying water at a snake is the wrong thing to do.
But it only takes one person with little knowledge about reptiles to heed the advice and pick up a hose when they come across a snake.
That’s when tragedy could strike.
The bogus advice apparently being pedalled by rogue reptile enthusiasts who pass themselves off as experts is dangerous and irresponsible.
Visit the NSW Department of Environment and Conservation website to find a list of contact details for qualified and insured reptile catchers in the Hunter.
