A large diamond python that entered a resident’s living room after a flyscreen door was left open is a timely reminder that warmer spring weather is bringing the Hawkesbury’s reptiles back into view.
As temperatures rise across the Hawkesbury, snakes are becoming more active after spending the colder months sheltering in places protected from low temperatures.
Snakes do not hibernate in quite the same way as mammals. Instead, they enter a period of greatly reduced activity known as brumation. With the arrival of spring, they emerge to warm themselves, find food and, later in the season, seek mates.
The large diamond python shown in the video accompanying this story chose a particularly conspicuous resting place inside a Hawkesbury home before being shown the door.
While its size may be confronting, the diamond python is non-venomous and plays an important role in the Hawkesbury ecosystem.
A natural form of pest control
The diamond python, scientifically known as Morelia spilota spilota, is found along the coast and ranges of south-eastern Australia, including the Sydney Basin and the Hawkesbury.
Its distinctive pattern consists of cream or yellow markings against a dark brown or black background. Individual patterns and colours can vary considerably.
Diamond pythons are constrictors. Rather than using venom, they capture prey with their mouths and coil their bodies around it.
Their diet includes rats, mice and other small mammals, as well as birds and some reptiles. This makes them valuable predators around farms, sheds, stables and rural homes, where they help control rodents.
Rodents can damage crops, animal feed, electrical wiring and buildings. They can also carry disease. By keeping rodent populations in check, pythons provide natural pest control without poisons or traps.
Diamond pythons are generally reluctant to confront people. However, they can defend themselves if cornered, threatened or handled. Although they are non-venomous, their bite can be painful and their curved teeth can cause puncture wounds or remain embedded in the skin.
When a snake appears at a suburban home
For people living in Windsor, Richmond, North Richmond, South Windsor or another built-up part of the Hawkesbury, finding a large snake at the front door—or inside the living room—can understandably cause alarm.
The safest response is to remain calm, keep well away and, where it can be done without approaching the animal, give the snake an escape route.
Bring children and pets inside or move them to another secure part of the house. Close internal doors leading to the area and watch the snake from a safe distance, as knowing its location will help a professional snake catcher.
Do not attempt to identify a snake solely from its colour, markings or size. Several species can be confused by an untrained observer, and every unidentified snake should be treated as potentially venomous.
Never try to catch, touch, corner or kill it. Poking a snake with a broom or attempting to move it with garden equipment greatly increases the likelihood of someone being bitten.
If the snake is inside the home, trapped in an enclosed area or unable to leave safely, contact a licensed reptile handler or wildlife rescue organisation. The NSW Government maintains a list of licensed reptile handlers.
Living alongside snakes in rural Hawkesbury
For residents of rural Hawkesbury, snakes are a familiar part of living close to bushland, creeks, farms and national parks.
A diamond python travelling through a paddock, sitting in a tree or resting near a shed will usually move on without intervention. If it is safely away from people, pets, poultry and working areas, the most appropriate response may simply be to give it space.
Being accustomed to wildlife, however, does not remove the need for caution. Even experienced rural residents can mistake one species for another, particularly in long grass, poor light or when only part of the snake is visible.
One Hawkesbury resident recalled being bitten by what he believed was a baby black snake while working on his tractor.
He initially ignored the bite because he thought the small snake was not large enough to carry much venom. About half an hour later, his hand began to swell and he felt sick. He had to ask a neighbour to drive him to Windsor Hospital for treatment.
The experience taught him never to dismiss a bite because the snake appears small.
The essential safety message remains correct: a young or small venomous snake can still deliver a potentially life-threatening bite. A snake’s age, length and the apparent size of its fangs cannot be used to predict how much venom may have entered the body.
People should never wait for swelling, nausea, pain or other symptoms before seeking help. Serious symptoms may be delayed, and a bite can be difficult to see.
Around rural properties, residents should wear enclosed footwear and long trousers near sheds, woodpiles and overgrown areas. Use a torch when walking outside at night and look before reaching into garden beds, feed stores or stacked materials.
Keep grass short around the house, remove rubbish and unused building materials, store firewood away from doors and seal gaps beneath buildings. Reducing rodents and securing stock feed will also make sheds and houses less attractive to snakes searching for prey.
Chicken coops and aviaries should be maintained carefully, as birds, eggs and rodents attracted to spilled feed can all draw snakes.
Residents should not relocate snakes themselves. Native snakes are protected in NSW, and removal should be undertaken by an appropriately licensed handler.
Every snakebite requires medical attention
Every suspected snakebite should be treated as a medical emergency, regardless of the snake’s apparent species, age or size.
Call Triple Zero immediately, keep the person completely still and apply a pressure-immobilisation bandage over the bite and along the affected limb. Do not allow the person to walk. Do not wash, cut or suck the wound, apply a tourniquet or attempt to catch or kill the snake.
Even when the animal is confidently identified as a non-venomous diamond python, a bite should be medically assessed. Its teeth can cause deep puncture wounds, introduce bacteria and occasionally break off beneath the skin.
A clinician may need to clean and examine the wound, check for retained teeth, assess the risk of infection and review whether the person’s tetanus vaccination is current. Tetanus is caused by bacteria entering a wound from the environment; it is more accurate to describe it as a risk associated with a contaminated puncture wound than to say a non-venomous snake itself carries tetanus.
As spring unfolds, Hawkesbury residents can expect more encounters with reptiles. A python in the living room may be startling, but distance, patience and respect will usually allow people and wildlife to emerge safely from the encounter.
Bilpin Resident finds a Diamond Python in their living room.
