A Queensland woman has saved her four-month-old puppy from becoming a meal, after finding it in the stranglehold of a 2.5-metre carpet python.
The woman heard squeals of pain from her English staffy named Panda, and rushed outside to find the young dog in the grip of the large snake at her Sunshine Coast home.
Calling for help, she was assisted by a neighbour before calling snake catcher Stu McKenzie.
“I was rocking up to a job myself when I got a call from the lady and she was proper frantic,” Mr McKenzie said.
“She said ‘I’ve got an emergency’, and I thought someone had been bitten by a snake. I heard this squealing in the background and then she explained her dog was being strangled by a python.”
Realising the dog would be dead before he could reach the house, Mr McKenzie calmed the woman, explaining that she and the man assisting her would have to detach the snake.
“I went into teaching mode and had to explain to them both how to get the snake off the dog without hurting it, the dog or themselves. It worked out pretty well,” Mr McKenzie said.
“The snake was biting down on the dog and that wasn’t a big concern, the problem was the snake’s body squeezing the life out of it. They had to get that pressure off the little pup.”
Mr McKenzie told the pair via speakerphone to hold the puppy down and prise the snake off the dog, tail first, while slowly trying to release the snake’s bite.
“You’re trying not to hurt it, but they are quite strong. They did really well,” he said.
Mr McKenzie said he’s only attended two or three jobs like this in eight years of snake catching.
When he arrived at the house, Panda was alive and well. Mr McKenzie caught and relocated the python.
“It’s pretty rare that we have to have that conversation over the phone,” he said.
“The owner was obviously extremely relieved afterwards. It’s lucky she was home and had her neighbour to help.”
Spot the snake cuddled up in the veggie garden
Mr McKenzie added snake sightings had become increasingly common in the last few weeks, as Queensland entered its peak snake season.
“It is the busiest time of the year. They’ve just come out of breeding season, babies are hatching or being born, cruising around, eating as much as they can and wandering into backyards sometimes,” Mr McKenzie said.
Those who do spot snakes in their homes are advised to remain calm and call a snake catcher.A