Cape York residents horrified and perplexed as deadly snakes make themselves at home

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https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08...iest-snake-invades-home-in-australia/12596318


Cooking dinner and doing the laundry have become nerve-wracking chores for Sally Gray and Graham Woods because they have to be constantly on the alert for highly toxic death adders.

Key points:
  • Two death adders per week are entering the Piccaninny Plains homestead
  • A mouse plague and dry weather are among theories explaining the phenomenon
  • Death adders are highly toxic but also a non-aggressive snake species
They estimate that over the past three months they have had to remove 20 of the snakes from the kitchen, laundry, dining room and other parts of the Cape York property they manage, leaving them perplexed about the reason for the mystery invasion.

Ms Gray and Mr Woods, who manage Piccaninny Plains Wildlife Reserve, say they have been getting "one or two most weeks".

"They turn up as we've got our back turned in the evening, while we're cooking dinner," Ms Gray said.

"We might turn around and there's one under the kitchen bench or there's one in the dining room or there's one in the laundry.

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Mr Summerville said death adder numbers were definitely recovering after being savaged by the introduction of cane toads.

"They were eating the toads, the toads would poison them and the death adders would die," he explained.

"Over time, they have learned not to eat toads so their numbers are gradually increasing — which means people will start seeing them, especially around houses."

Mr Summerville believes this year's mild wet season on Cape York could also be a contributing factor.

"It's been very dry up there," he said.

"People often have sprinklers running in their gardens or a hose watering their gardens, bowls around for dogs to drink out of — and all of that attracts snakes."

Whatever the reason for the snake invasion, Ms Gray said she and Mr Woods were well aware that if they were to be bitten, the remote property was a long way from medical assistance.

"It's in the back of your mind with everything you do on a property like this," she said.

"We carry medical kits with us all the time with snake compression bandages; we have our RFDS box and we have our own airstrip.

"It becomes a way of life that you have to be conscious that you have to take care of yourself."
 

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