General News
5 February, 2026
It’s Snake Season
Watch out, the slithery little guys are out and about at the moment. One of The Clifton Courier’s own was bitten last Friday.
In fact Bob Hamill, one of the journalists at The Clifton Courier, was not bitten by a brown snake - it was Bob’s darling Jack Russell, Jackie.
Bob and his wife Fiona’s morning began with a shock when Jackie fell ill after a tussle with a big, king brown.
Fiona soon after ran the animal to the Allora Vet and thankfully Jackie is on the mend.
Last week Bob’s neighbours had their cat bitten.
All across the area, from Greenmount to Clifton’s backstreets there have been reports of snakes.
Snake catcher Gunter Glaser, is at the moment catching about one a day.
One of four or five snake catchers in the area, he says that number is down from a few years ago, but the sightings are still at what he can roughly say is the average.
But what’s driving them out at the moment is the heat.
The dry heat that we’ve especially been feeling over the last week, has snakes hitting the town, looking for shade and water.
Indeed it was in Bob and Fiona’s backyard pond where Jackie found this particular brown.
The usual advice is to keep your backyard clean, grass mowed, clear any piles of green waste, control any pests likely to look like a snack to a snake, and make sure your doorways are sealed.
Gunter, the expert in all things snakes, would tell residents to make sure their hedges are trimmed and most importantly, that there is a gap underneath.
“It’s hard to get in under the hedge, more over when there’s a gap we can just look underneath,” he said.
Gunter would also recommend you check your draft stoppers.
Particularly in the garage where snakes find easy access to the house.
It’s also mating season for the slippery critters.
That means that mothers will be looking for somewhere to lay their eggs.
In paddocks this will be anything with a little gap underneath with some shade.
Around town this could be anywhere cosy, in the shade, away from noise.
Check your boots, too.
