Snake found in Bathurst CBD: 'It could have ended really, really badly'

During the afternoon hours, local snake catcher Stefanie Lesser, from Wild Woofers Snake Catching, Dog Walking and Pet Sitting, was called to the Bathurst CBD by the team at Blowes Clothing.

"So one of the ladies from Blowes rang me, and it was about 3:30pm, give or take, and she said 'I'm at Blowes, and we have a snake outside'," Ms Lesser said.

And Ms Lesser's first response was one of utter disbelief.

"Is it real?", she asked the team at Blowes.

"I thought there was no way, but then I got there, and I saw the snake I just thought 'I'll be damned'," she said.

The snake, which Ms Lesser said was a tiger snake that was approximately one metre in length, was found sunning itself just outside the Blowes Clothing store on the corner of William and Howick Streets.

Luckily, according to Ms Lesser, it was extremely calm, and was easily captured so that it could be relocated safely.

"It didn't put up a fight, I literally just scooped it into the bag, which was lucky because I wasn't prepared to chase a snake down Howick Street," she said.

"And if it had have gone into the shop it would have been a whole different ball game. It could have ended really, really badly."

Ms Lesser believes that the snake made its way into town by hitching a ride in someone's vehicle.

"I'm guessing that someone has driven their car ... and that it's been warm and the snake has found the heat and curled up in it and obviously made its way into town," she said.

"It was quite placid for a wild snake so I think it must have had a bit of a journey."

Unbelievably, this instance was not the first time Ms Lesser has seen a snake in the centre of town.

It's not even the second time.

Within the last few months, she has been called to relocate three tiger snakes within the CBD. One was in the Armada Shopping Centre car park, another was along Stanley Street, and now she can add the town's main street to the list.

"If you had asked me two months ago I would have said 'nope, it's never going to happen', but now I've had three tiger snake calls in town now," Ms Lesser said.

"I think it's the same as when there was a snake in the car park, it must have come off somebody's car, and so I picked it up and went and relocated it and then moved on."

Despite the weather cooling down, Ms Lesser said that it's not unusual to still see snakes slithering about as they prepare for their winter brumation.

This brumation is a period of dormancy and inactivity.

"Snakes will go into brumation, so it's not quite hibernation, so they are all still looking for a final feed and somewhere safe to sort of nestle down for a while," Ms Lesser said.

Ms Lesser said she would encourage anybody who comes into contact with a snake to call her immediately so that she can safely remove it from the area.

During the time between the call and her arrival, she said she would recommend that people keep an eye on the snake to ensure it doesn't escape.

"That's the best thing you can do when you see a snake - call me straight away and then keep an eye on it until I get there," she said.