{"id":149722,"date":"2025-06-01T15:03:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T15:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/149722\/"},"modified":"2025-06-01T15:03:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T15:03:13","slug":"queensland-snake-catcher-warns-public-that-killing-snakes-risks-huge-fines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/149722\/","title":{"rendered":"Queensland snake catcher warns public that killing snakes risks huge fines"},"content":{"rendered":"

Readers are advised this story contains an image that some people may find distressing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Sunshine Coast-based snake catcher was called for assistance to relocate a red-bellied black snake on a resident’s property.<\/p>\n

By the time the crew arrived, the snake was dead.<\/p>\n

They say it had been chopped in half.<\/p>\n

\"Dead<\/p>\n

Queensland’s Environment Department is investigating the incident. (Supplied: Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24\/7)<\/p>\n

The incident has been reported to the Queensland Environment Department, which confirmed to the ABC it is investigating, and wasn’t able to provide further comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It’s prompted a warning from Stuart McKenzie from Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers, who described the killing of any snake as unnecessary.<\/p>\n

“Snakes don’t need to be killed, and there’s always an alternative,” Mr McKenzie said.<\/p>\n

“The main one being just leaving the snake alone and let our catcher get there \u2026 to catch it.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Illegal to kill a snake<\/p>\n

A post on social media about the incident prompted a massive response and divided opinions.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the Environment Department said it would be “inappropriate” to make any further comment on this specific matter.<\/p>\n

But under state law, it’s an offence to kill a snake, and doing so can attract a fine of more than $16,000.<\/p>\n

According to the department, Queensland is home to about 120 species of snakes, with about 65 per cent of these being venomous.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It advises against killing a snake not only because it’s illegal to do so, but because it “places you at a higher risk of being bitten if you force the snake to defend itself”.<\/p>\n

Its official advice is:<\/p>\n

\n

If you encounter a snake, don’t panic. Back away to a safe distance and allow the snake to move away. Snakes often want to escape when disturbed.<\/p>\n

When left alone, snakes present little or no danger to people.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Stuart McKenzie hopes more education means fewer snake deaths. (Supplied: Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24\/7)<\/p>\n

Mr McKenzie said people placed themselves in more danger of being bitten if they tried to kill a snake.<\/p>\n

“People think that \u2026 you know, chopping the snake in half is protecting everybody,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s actually doing the opposite [and] as soon as that snake becomes defensive, that’s when it’s going to bite people.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He advises keeping a safe distance and letting it move on, or, calling for help if needed.<\/p>\n

Commercial snake catchers are licensed to remove and relocate snakes that are found on people’s properties.<\/p>\n

More and more snake interactions<\/p>\n

As urban sprawl continues, Mr McKenzie said interactions between snakes and humans were becoming increasingly common in south-east Queensland.\u00a0<\/p>\n

What should you do if you get bitten by a snake?<\/a><\/p>\n

Hundreds of Queenslanders are bitten by snakes each year, with reports peaking\u00a0in the warmer months. So how can we keep safe when\u00a0they’re on the\u00a0move?<\/p>\n

His main piece of advice was for people to stay as calm as possible and try not to interact with the snake.<\/p>\n

If it’s in the house, Mr McKenzie advised getting everyone out of the house until someone could get there to help.<\/p>\n

“In the time it takes you to run outside to the shed, find a shovel, run back in and try and chase after the snake, you could have got all your family and pets outside in that time,” he said.<\/p>\n

“[That way] you’re not putting yourself in danger. You’re not putting your kids in danger.”<\/p>\n

And if it’s outside, he advises going inside and shutting the door as well as keeping pets in.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“It’s honestly that simple,” he said.<\/p>\n

In the event of a bite\u00a0\"a<\/p>\n

The Queensland Health Department says all snake bites should be treated as dangerous. (Flickr<\/a> : Denby Jorgensen<\/a> CC BY-NC-ND 2.0<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Queensland’s Health Department advises that in the event of a snake bite, people should call triple-0, and the person who has been bitten should lie down while awaiting an ambulance.<\/p>\n

The department says all snake bites should be treated as dangerous.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Readers are advised this story contains an image that some people may find distressing. A Sunshine Coast-based snake…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":149723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3847],"tags":[3928,1227,16757,13691,64056,70,31108,64055,16,15,1717],"class_list":{"0":"post-149722","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-conservation","9":"tag-fines","10":"tag-penalty","11":"tag-queensland","12":"tag-red-bellied-black-snake","13":"tag-science","14":"tag-snake","15":"tag-snake-catcher","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom","18":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114608721378667835","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=149722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/149722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/149723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=149722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=149722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=149722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}