Unexpected invader prompts emergency response in Aussie hospital car park
As humans continue to encroach on the habitat of our native wildlife, more and more interactions are occurring in strange places
Hospitals are used to all kinds of emergencies but one discovery last weekend surprised even the most experienced staff members at Canberra’s biggest hospital.
Spotted on the fourth-floor car park was the most unwelcome visitor, a large venomous red-bellied black snake.
Gavin Smith, Director of ACT Snake Removals, was promptly called and while he made his way to the scene Canberra Hospital staff were able to keep the public a fair distance away from the impressive reptile.
Smith found the red-belly in the corner of the car park basking in the sun. With staff and visitors watching on with intrigue, he carefully approached the snake, grabbed it by the tail and calmly brought it under control as he safely bagged it.
“It was a very controlled situation when I arrived, which made the catch faster and easier,” Smith told Yahoo News.
“There was certainly plenty of intrigue and bewilderment, but credit to the Canberra Hospital staff for ensuring the public stayed away.”
It was an odd place to find the large snake, so high off the ground, but Smith believes the red-belly inadvertently travelled in on a vehicle as a stowaway and alighted in the car park when the car had stopped and things were quiet.
“Given my experiences working in this space over the years, I wouldn't be surprised if this kind of misadventure happens more than people realise."
Robust numbers of venomous snakes over the summer
Smith, a snake researcher and Associate Professor at the ANU, recently removed another red-belly found inside a car engine and said this season there has been good numbers of red-bellies and also venomous eastern brown snakes in the Canberra region.
“I would say that population numbers of eastern browns and red-bellies are relatively robust at present in the local area as a consequence of preceding La Niña cycles,” he said.
“The generally cooler and wetter conditions in recent years enabled good water capture, biomass and thus prey availability, also creating denser vegetation for snakes to use as refuge."
But he said snake numbers will go through boom and bust cycles.
“A sustained El Niño period of hot and dry conditions will bring a reverse to the current trend,” he said.
“As will the likelihood of more human and pet interactions as snakes are forced to move more into urban areas and yards in search of diminishing resources.”
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