Red-bellied black snakes are far from rare in Queensland, Australia, as the summer months approach but while they’re fairly dangerous, it’s rare to see them reach a huge size. However, one man has quickly become an internet sensation after managing to catch a giant one at a popular shooting range.
Groundskeeper Bryce Lockett, from Snake Catchers Brisbane, posed for a photo at Belmont shooting range near Brisbane as he held up the monster reptile on the company’s official Facebook page. Its head appears disproportionately huge as it rises up to the lens and, within hours, the post garnered thousands of comments from impressed and terrified Aussies alike.
Some couldn’t hide their excitement as one person wrote: “Omg my favourite snake. What a beautiful beautiful snake !!” while another added: “Oh how beautiful!!! Such lovely lil snakes.” One more added: “Beautiful critter so healthy thick an shiney (sic).”
However others weren’t so sure with one joking: “A bit too close to Carindale for my liking!!!!” while another added: “F*** that’s gotta be the biggest one of those that I’ve seen.” Another added: “I got cornered in a semi-outdoor toilet by one of these when I was a pre-schooler. No-one believed me !”
Speaking to the Daily Mail Australia about the find, Lockett admitted the snake was “abnormally large” for its type and added: “A lot of the red bellies were not surviving to this size because of cane toads, but he has been dodging them and gotten to a decent size.”
Meanwhile Gold Coast snake catcher Tony Harrison warned the news outlet that the upcoming summer months would see more snakes invading Aussie homes as it starts to heat up outside. “You’ll get them everywhere,” he said. “When temperatures drop below 23C, you don’t see a lot of them, they slow right down.”
And it comes months after a snake catcher left social media users baffled as they tried to figure out where a sneaky snake was found hiding in an elderly couple’s kitchen. Brisbane Snake Catchers were called out to a home in the coastal Brisbane suburb of Wynnum to remove a python from a home. Upon arrival they decided to take a snap of the room the reptile was in, later posting it to Facebook to see if anyone could see where it had settled.
“We were called out today to an elderly couple’s home in Wynnum, Brisbane,” the post read alongside a photo of inside the home. “Can you find the snake in this kitchen?”
The question proved harder than some first thought, with many questioning whether they were in need of some new glasses with absolutely no idea where the snake had hidden away. The post received hundreds of comments with answers ranging from: In the cupboard or at the top of shelves, to hiding in a cutlery drawer out of sight. But for the most part, people were completely stumped.
“Is that him wrapped around the cup?” one person commented. “Is the snake the tiny lump on the left of the basket at the top of the cabinets?” another asked.
While a third simply had no clue writing: “If an elderly couple can spot it and I can’t at the young age of 42… I am going to Specsavers.” Sadly many of their suggestions were wrong as the snake was actually hiding behind the plate decorated with a snowman above the cupboard on the top right.
It’s quite difficult to spot at first but its body can be seen slightly behind the plate, near the air freshener and out of reach from the elderly couple who were quick to call for help.