Factory happy to hand over one venomous visitor

By CASEY NEILL

A SNAKE on the loose in a Dandenong South factory wasn’t an unusual situation – but the species was.
The Reece Plumbing national distribution centre operations manager Bill Lewis said workers discovered a bright green snake on Tuesday 17 November.
“At first they thought it was a prank,” he said.
“The guy knocked the carton and it put its head up. It couldn’t move anywhere because it was stuck to the sticky tape.
“We don’t know how long it was stuck there.”
Mr Lewis about four months ago found part of a snake during a walk around the building, and called in snake handler Raymond Hoser to run a snake safety course for staff.
“We knew to just leave it,” he said.
“He told us that most people get bitten because they stand on them or they muck around with them.
“Most of our containers get fumigated. Because this one didn’t have any wood it in, it didn’t get fumigated.”
Mr Hoser – self-dubbed the Snake Man – said the reptile was a venomous white-lipped green tree viper from south-east Asia.
“It was unusual. I’ve never caught a viper before,” he said.
“I get one international visitor a year on average.
“It had been in the box since July. That’s when the box came in from China.
“He was skinny but in good health.”
Mr Hoser said there were lots of venomous snakes in Dandenong.
“The industrial area around Dandenong South is particularly good for snakes,” he said.
He said running water, dense blackberries and industrial storage provided the perfect environment.
“In Dandenong, by far the dominant snake is copperheads,” he said.
“You also get tiger snakes in the area but they’re very scarce.”
He urged anyone who spotted a snake to walk away.
“You will never be bitten by a snake unless you mistreat it,” he said.
“If you want to be like Steve Irwin and bash the cr*p out of things, something will probably kill you in the end.”
A Department of Agriculture and Water Resources spokesperson confirmed biosecurity officers had been alerted to the discovery of an exotic snake and had collected it for formal identification.
“Live snakes, like any live animal, pose a high biosecurity risk to Australia because they can carry pests and diseases that aren’t present here, potentially affecting our agricultural industries, health and the environment,” they said.
“The department will review the likely pathway for the snake entering the country further as more information comes to hand.”

Watch Mr Hoser’s vision of the wayward snake here: