'Fright of her life': Gold Coast woman finds five-metre python on her doorstep
As a seasoned snake catcher, Tony Harrison is used to the people the claiming there is a five-metre snake on their doorstep. But for the first time on Monday, the caller wasn’t exaggerating.
“This was the largest snake I have come across in 27 years,” Harrison said. “The poor old lady who opened the front door to see it there got the fright of her life”
The giant albino Burmese python was found in the Gold Coast suburb of Oxenford.
With the snake weighing more than 80kg, Harrison said it was lucky for him the reptile was good-tempered.
“Burmese pythons are from overseas, so he is obviously someone’s illegal pet … he had been in captivity his entire life, he is used to being held.”
But a missing tail and scars across its body suggested the snake had lived a rough life.
Burmese pythons are an illegal species in Australia. They aren’t venomous but if they escape into the wild, as this one did, they can wreak havoc on the ecosystem.
“It eats the food that our native species needs, in other words, competes with that native species, and there’s potential for introduction of viruses … a snake for America comes in and he can wipe out the Australian population,” Harrison said.
After the massive snake was bagged, Harrison’s first call was to the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to collect the illegal animal.
The second was to his son Jensen’s school to make sure he got a chance to meet the impressive python.
“When we pulled it out of the car he couldn’t believe it was real,” Harrison said.” This is the biggest snake you will come across.”
Australia’s strict biosecurity laws mean that the python is likely to be put down.
“It was a bit sad … to be playing with it and having it in the back of our car, knowing that that’s where it is going,” Harrison said. “Within an hour of catching it, it was in the back of a biosecurity car.”
The maximum fine in Queensland for keeping a prohibited reptile like a Burmese python is $130,550.