A snake hunter has issued a stern warning after finding an unlucky serpent stuck in an “extremely harmful” trap.
Mark Pelley was called to a suburban garden, where a brown snake was trapped in the metal cage, which the homeowners said was placed there for stray possums.
The seasoned snake catcher shared a video of the find, warning against the use of such traps – and advising on the safest way to handle it if a deadly critter ends up in your home or garden.
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Mark, who is based in Melbourne, Australia, later discovered that the trap was likely not intended for possums at all – and appeared instead to have been placed there for snakes.
Sharing the footage, which features on Need To Know, on social media, where it was viewed one million times, the snake hunter said: “Do not trap snakes.
“This is the third time in my career I’ve found a snake trapped in a possum trap.
“I am not encouraging people to use these; rather, this is a safety message to show that IF a snake is trapped in one of these, immediately call a snake hunter to attend.
“[Then], cover the trap with a towel and spray the towel with cold water so the snake stays cool.
“Do not put yourself at risk.
“The home owners did not deliberately trap this snake inside – they wanted to deal with possums and, on finding the snake, immediately did the right thing.”
In the clip, having not come across such a trap before, Mark acknowledged that it made his job easier for him to pull the snake out, before releasing it into the wild.
But he later realised that the trap had likely been intended for snakes – and not, as the homeowners had claimed, for possums.
Mark said that the traps can be “extremely harmful to snakes” and described them as “illegal”, advising his followers not to use them.
He later clarified: “I want to make this very clear, I am not endorsing the trapping of snakes.
“It is unlawful and puts the snake at risk.
“I’ve not seen these traps before, but it is not something to be used for snakes.
“If you see a snake, leave it alone and call your closest snake catcher.
“I was devastated to learn what this [trap] was.
“Having never trapped a snake before, I didn’t see these until now.
“Even though it worked in this circumstance, do not use them under any circumstances.”
Mark previously made headlines after a snake bite caused him to go into organ failure – and forget his girlfriend.
He had just started seeing his now-wife Rebecca when a bite from a tiger snake, which has extremely potent venom, caused him to stop breathing, and he was rushed to the ICU – unbeknownst to his new love interest.
When he left the hospital – after battling multiple organ failure – he was left with full retrograde amnesia temporarily, and had no memory of meeting Rebecca.
But a text on his phone from her accusing him of ghosting prompted him to reach out – and the two went on to “fall in love all over again”, tying the knot in July.
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