Snakes in the Grass — and Under the Piano, by the Pool and in the Prison
www.nytimes.com
Business is good for snake catchers in Australia, as the period of brumation, a sort of hibernation for reptiles, is shrinking — a result of the warming earth.
  • AutoTL;DRBEnglish
    2•9 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Business has never been so good for Stuart McKenzie, who runs a snake-catching service in the Sunshine Coast, a verdant enclave along miles of pristine beach in the vast Australian state of Queensland.

    More housing is being built, and many snakes who once dwelled in native bush land are finding sanctuary — and a reliable source of food and water — in homes intended for humans.

    Researchers from Macquarie University found that by eating mice and rats, snakes’ benefits to farmers far outweigh the potential costs of having a venomous creature on site.

    As a small and harmless tree snake was removed from her bedroom, Doris Hyde, 96, explained how she had panicked and, on instinct, hit the animal with a jet of fly spray.

    Two accepted an inspection with relative grace, but the third lashed across the floor, motioning its head as if to bite Mr. McKenzie’s left knee as he held its tail steady in his hand.

    Mr. McKenzie’s business has appeared on local television, and it has a substantial social media following on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook, with posts of videos and pictures of snakes eating improbably large possums, hanging out in places they shouldn’t be and generally getting into ophidian mischief.

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