- Townsville family’s laundry was demolished to catch deadly taipan
- Snake catcher Joe Mackereth was called to a property in Kelso on Friday
- After ‘completely gutting the place’ Mr Mackereth was able to catch the snake
Would you tear your house down if you knew there was a snake living inside?
This is what one family was forced to do after a deadly taipan was hiding in their Townsville home.
The laundry had to be completely demolished so snake catcher Joe Mackereth could get to the reptile.
The laundry had to be completely demolished so snake catcher Joe Mackereth could get to the reptile
A Townsville family’s laundry was demolished to catch deadly taipan
Mr Mackereth was called to a property in Kelso after a man had stepped on the snake on Friday night.
He spotted the snake before it slithered into a cavity in the laundry.
The snake wouldn’t budge and Mr Mackereth decided to try and catch it again the next day.
‘After two days, a bit of demolition work and a lot of patience, I finally managed to get this Coastal Taipan out of a family’s laundry,’ Mr Mackereth said.
‘Unfortunately, it got itself stuck in some metal framework and managed to get some scratches.
‘Coastal Taipans are the third most venomous snake on the planet, however they are extremely shy and will evade human interaction wherever possible.’
He managed to catch the snake and took it to the local vet where it was treated for scratches.
The snake will be released back into the wild once it has fully recovered.
Mr Mackereth was called to a property in Kelso after a man had stepped on the snake on Friday night (he is pictured with the taipan)
The snake will be released back into the wild once it has fully recovered