An Australian man was left shocked after discovering more than 100 venomous snakes under a pile of mulch in the backyard of his home in Sydney.
David Stein of Horsley Park called Reptile Relocation Sydney last Friday after spotting six snakes slither into the mulch. He had been alerted to their presence after one of the snakes bit his dog, local media reported.
Reptile Relocation Sydney owner Cory Kerewaro arrived that afternoon and bagged 102 venomous red-bellied black snakes.
“Just seeing that amount in one group, it gives you a bit of the shudders," Mr Stein said.
He said two of the captured adults gave birth to 29 snakes in the bag. “There was just over 40 that we pulled out of the pile and then when we went to leave the property, we checked the bags,” he said, “and two of them had given birth and it brought the number up to around 70”.
The final tally was five adult snakes and 97 offspring, Mr Kerewaro said.
Faced with a large number of slithering reptiles, the snake catchers enlisted the help of homeowners in the neighbourhood to round up all of them. "If they didn't help, we probably would have called it a day and went back the next day to keep going," Mr Kerewaro said according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Reptile experts are not sure why so many snakes were hatched in such a short time at Mr Stein's 1.4-hectare property in Sydney's western outskirts.
Mr Kerewaro said the largest haul that he had heard of in a snake removal job was 30 non-venomous carpet pythons. "You can get a decent number like that when the babies are hatching," he said. "But to have this many venomous snakes, no one's come across it."
The red-bellied black snake is commonly found in eastern New South Wales and Victoria and typically gives birth to five to 18 offspring.
Most of the world's most venomous snakes are native to Australia.
Scott Eipper, who has written many books about Australian snakes and dangerous wildlife, said red-bellied black snakes may congregate for safety reasons or a shortage of suitable habitat to give birth.
Mr Eipper, who spoke to Mr Kerewaro the day the snakes were caught, said it was possible that extraordinarily hot weather in Sydney had triggered birthing.
"This is an isolated incident," Mr Eipper said, according to the Associated Press. “It's certainly a very rare occurrence.”
