A budgie-munching snake has been pinned down with a rake by a Victorian man after he caught the reptile in his backyard aviary.
Barry Goldsmith from Snake Catcher Victoria said the man held the deadly snake captive with a garden rake for half an hour before he arrived at the Langwarrin home in Melbourne’s south-east on Wednesday.
He said the horrified homeowner discovered the tiger snake had slithered into his aviary, killing a cockatiel and eating two budgies before he was able to trap it.
“When I got there, there was a guy in the aviary and he had a steel rake pinning the snake by the head,” Mr Goldsmith posted his Facebook snake-catching page.
“He said, “I’m glad your here, I’ve been holding the snake for half an hour like this!”
“Needless to say when I removed the rake this little guy went crazy, flattened its head to the dimensions of a cigarette paper and proceeded to try its hardest to give me a little kiss.”
The experienced snake catcher said it was not uncommon to find a snake unable to make its way back out of an aviary.
“This happens a lot, when a snake goes into an aviary and stuffs himself and can’t get back out because he’s too fat,” he said.
In photos uploaded to social media by the snake catcher, two lumps can be seen inside the snake’s body – evidence of the man’s very unlucky two missing budgies.
Mr Goldsmith safely removed the snake from the man’s aviary before it was able to devour any other wildlife.
He said tiger snakes were among the top 10 most deadliest snakes in the world and were common in Australia’s south east.
