Sydney's snake season has come to an end, and by the numbers alone it was one of the busiest on record. Across the Sydney Snake Catcher network, the 2025/26 season closed with more than 1,485 call outs, well above the 821 jobs recorded the season before. Add Urban Reptile Removal's own volume and the Hills District alone accounted for well over a hundred jobs.
Two catches stood out.
Last season, a red bellied black snake captured at a property on Knightsbridge Estate, Glenhaven, turned out to be the largest ever recorded. Measuring 1.945 metres, the specimen was verified by Dane Trembath, Collection Manager of Herpetology at the Australian Museum, as the largest red bellied black in the museum's collection, a collection that has been growing since 1827.
The owners had been seeing the snake around the property for several days before calling. By the time I arrived it was visible on the bush side of the back fence. It put up a fight, which is typical, but it was clearly old and worn out. An animal of that size, held above the head, is not easy to control. It had lived a long life. Not long after capture it died of natural causes and was donated to the Australian Museum, where it now sits as part of the permanent herpetological record.
This season's other standout catch was a 1.87 metre eastern brown snake from Kellyville. Eastern browns are the second most venomous land snake in the world and responsible for more snakebite deaths in Australia than any other species. A specimen of that length is well above what we typically see, which averages closer to a metre.
Blacktown held the top spot for call volume across the network this season, with the Hills Shire close behind in second. Between them the two LGAs account for the bulk of our work. Within the Hills Shire, Glenhaven, Castle Hill, Kellyville, Baulkham Hills, Beaumont Hills, Rouse Hill, Box Hill and Bella Vista led the numbers.
The pattern makes sense once you look at the geography. The Hills Shire combines creek and gully systems, Cattai Creek, Smalls Creek, Strangers Creek and the Hawkesbury River corridor, with the kind of established gardens, pools and dams that hold water and shelter. Red bellied blacks in particular are wetland specialists tied closely to frogs, so where the frogs are, the snakes follow.
Red bellied blacks and eastern browns made up the bulk of jobs this season, as they do most years. Diamond pythons were common through the sandstone and bushland pockets. Golden crowned snakes and green tree snakes turned up regularly too, particularly in the more vegetated suburbs, though neither presents the same risk as the first two.
If you come across a snake in your yard, the two things that matter most are distance and information. Keep back, and if you can, keep a visual on where it is or where it was last seen. You do not need to identify it, photograph it or follow it into cover. If it moves out of sight, watching the spot it disappeared into is the most useful thing you can do, because snakes will often reappear there once the area settles. That single piece of information makes a real difference to how quickly a catcher can find it on arrival.
Do not attempt to handle or move a snake yourself. Call a licensed catcher and they will talk you through what to do while they're on their way.
Snake activity will drop off through the cooler months as most species head into brumation, though it is not unusual to see one disturbed from a hiding place even in winter. Expect the next season to pick up again from around September, following the same pattern it always does, when the weather warms and both snakes and the animals they hunt become active again.
It has been a long season. Thank you to everyone who called in rather than reaching for a shovel. It makes the job easier and it is far better for the snake.
Chris Williams, Sydney Snake Catcher
