By Brendan Rees
Astounding video has emerged of a snake catcher grappling with a Tiger snake that spilled out of a cardboard toy box in a South East home.
Barry Goldsmith, from Snake Catcher Victoria, was called out to the Smiths Lane property in Cranbourne South on Thursday 25 April after a girl reached her hand inside the toy box and spotted the critter.
“It had already shed its skin, and its skin was nicely dried out so it made me think the snake had been living in there,” he said.
The video, which was uploaded to You Tube, showed Mr Goldsmith lifting toys out of the box in search of the snake.
The snake briefly disappears before the seasoned snake catcher eventually finds it on the ground and picks it up with one hand.
“The box was about four foot high and it was full of stuffed toys,” he said.
“It was in a fairly comfortable spot.
“There were lots of mice around in this particular room, which was disconnected from the rest of the house.”
He said the resident was “not really distressed” as she was “used to Tiger snakes” and “lives an area where they’ve got snakes.”
Mr Goldsmith said his wife has been following him around for 30 years with a video camera filming his catches.
“I don’t even think of it as a job. It’s like a hobby for me. I do it to relax.”
“I do this 300 times a year- to me a snake is nothing,” he added.
He said Tiger snakes’ reputation for aggression was “over rated.”
“In actual fact they’re quite gentle and if you were to leave the snake alone you’re not going to get bitten.”
Mr Goldsmith, who was called out Cranbourne about three times a week, said compared to his second job in security where he dealt with “drunks and violent people,” catching snakes was just “another day in the office.”
