A local snake catcher has called for educational reform following a busy summer season.
Eddie Street, an Englishman with an affinity for wildlife, became a snake catcher because “Australians are all scared of them”.
He said this fear was a result of ignorance and defied international stereotypes.
“I find it slightly odd,” he said.
“Just today on a building site, there was a small-eyed snake – venomous, but small – and this big burly bloke said: I hate snakes.
“He looks like a big, tough sort of guy… but he’s not ashamed to admit he is scared.
Mr Street said the old adage ‘the only good snake is a dead snake’ resonated with people today.
“Particularly with the older generation,” he said.
Mr Street said a fear of snakes was “primal”, dating all the way back to Adam and Eve.
“They’ve had bad press from day one,” he said.
“But unlike crocodiles, no snake will attack you unless they are provoked.
“If you come across a snake, you can just stand still, and it will go away.”
He said the best way to overcome fear was education.
“If I was running the education system in Queensland, I would say: let’s talk to the kids about snakes,” Mr Street said.
“It’s the ignorance, apart from the fear – most people haven’t got a clue what sort of snake it is, and there’s not that many varieties around here.
“And the eastern brown doesn’t look that different from a brown tree snake, and some people can’t even recognise a carpet python.”
Mr Street said the majority of the more common snakes in Logan were non-venomous, but recently he had found a lot of eastern browns – one of the deadliest snakes in the world.
“It’s not so much the inner suburbs closer to Brisbane, it’s more the outer suburbs with more grasslands – Jimboomba is a favourite,” he said.
“But even not as far as that – they’re all over Beenleigh, Carbrook and Waterford West.
“You won’t find them in Springwood or Shailer Park.
“They like where there’s plenty of rats and mice.”
He said although we were “well past peak season”, there were plenty of snakes around.
“With the rain, they shelter in sheds and houses,” Mr Street said.
“So, although it’s not the peak season, it’s still busy.”
He said eastern small-eyed snakes and red-bellied black snakes were also common in the Logan area, both of which are “highly venomous”.
“The carpet python, though non-venomous, can still be a great danger to pets, because it can constrict them to death – it has very powerful muscles,” Mr Street said.
“Make sure all outside pens with chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, are effectively sealed against entry of snakes.”
