Merry Hisssmmaasss! Reptile catcher plucks two deadly tiger snakes from a Christmas tree at a busy shopping centre
- Reptile catcher Raymond Hoser, 57, was called to get rid of two tiger snakes
- The venomous snakes were wrapped around a Christmas tree on a busy street
- Mr Hoser, who calls himself ‘the snake man’, said he knew they wouldn’t bite him
A reptile catcher has pulled two highly venomous tiger snakes from a Christmas tree at a busy city shopping centre.
Raymond Hoser, 57, from reptile removal company Snakebusters, was called to Maling Street in Canterbury, Melbourne, by frightened shopkeepers on Saturday.
The snake catcher was photographed grabbing the reptiles near the head and untangling them from the ‘tree’ – which consisted of tinsel wrapped around a lamppost.
Raymond Hoser was photographed plucking two deadly tiger snakes from a Christmas tree
‘You can tell by their body language if they’re going to bite you,’ Mr Hoser told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I could tell these guys weren’t going to.’
Social media users were shocked to learn the deadly snakes were found in such a suburban area.
‘Holy Moly! That’s the last place I’d expect ti find a snake, let alone two. Cantebury?!’ commented one person.
‘Oh. My. Godness,’ said someone else.
‘How do two tiger snakes make their way to an “unnatural” tree in Cantebury?’ asked another.
‘Ask the snakes – they turn up everywhere,’ Mr Hoser replied, adding a photo of a tiger snake on the windscreen of a truck.
Social media users were horrified to learn that tiger snakes can appear in such a suburban area
Mr Hoser said it’s not unusual to find a snake in a Christmas tree.
‘People wonder how snakes get into cities and it’s because they hitchhike in people’s cars,’ he said.
‘Then they get scared and climb up the closet thing for safety, and sometimes it’s a tree.
‘It’s not Christmas unless I’ve pulled at least one snake from a tree.
The snake man said his phone has been ringing off the hook this summer from people finding snakes in their homes.
‘Last week I pulled one from inside someone’s fridge.
Mr Hoser said he can tell if a snake is going to attack him
‘The week before, I climbed a 10-storey crane in Melbourne during gale-force winds to get an eastern brown snake off the top – they’re the second-most deadly snake in the world.
‘That’s how scared it was – slithered its way right to the top, but that’s what they do.’
His advice to people who see a snake is to leave it alone and not to panic.
‘People get scared when they see a snake but there’s usually no need.
‘Wait and see if it disappears on its own. If it doesn’t, then call a snake catcher, but they’re way more likely to attack you if you try to pick it up with a stick or something.’