A Sydney family's excitement over a new pet has been cut devastatingly short after discovering their bunny in the grips of a python. Despite the rabbit being kept inside a hutch, the diamond python managed to slip between the cage bars, prompting a warning to other pet owners to take action as snake season begins.
Cory Kerewaro, from Reptile Relocation Sydney, was called out to a home in Eagle Vale in the city's west, and arrived to find the snake coiled around the rabbit. The family had just purchased the animal over the weekend as a gift for their two children.
"The family were pretty freaked out," Cory told Yahoo News. "They were a bit distraught seeing that."
While diamond pythons aren't as commonly seen as red-bellied black snakes or eastern browns, they are found around Sydney, and the larger ones can target pets like guinea pigs, rabbits and birds.
And as September typically marks the beginning of snake season, Cory warned pet owners that the reptiles will be coming out of brumation in search of a meal.
"They're all coming out of their winter shelter sites, and they're all feeding and on the move. It is a time that they are on the hunt for food and mating as well," he said.
Unfortunately for the snake, the rabbit was too big for the roughly 1.8-metre python to digest, and it ended up giving up on the meal before Cory relocated it.
While it was too late to save the rabbit's life, Cory said there is a simple $20 solution that could prevent another family from experiencing the same heartache.
Mouse mesh, or snake mesh, can be purchased from Bunnings and other retailers for around $15 per metre. Combined with a packet of cable ties, "that's all that would be needed to prevent that from happening", Cory said.
"It's like chicken wire but with much smaller squares, so nothing can get in there. It's as simple as that -- just that little bit extra of a barrier makes it completely safe."
Pet owners who spot a snake approaching their animal should keep their distance from the reptile and only move the pet if it is safe to do so.
In 2018, a Tamworth man died after he was bitten by a brown snake while trying to remove it from his dog's mouth.
Cory urged others not to make the same mistake by putting themselves between the animal and the snake.
"I know it absolutely sucks if the pets get involved. Try to get the pet away if it is safe to do so, but sometimes you just can't, so call a catcher like myself and we'll get it sorted," he said.
He also reminded Aussies that it is illegal to kill native snakes, and doing so could result in a large fine depending on which state it occurred in.