Residents of a newly developed suburb were shocked to discover an eastern brown snake in their front yard.
The huge, two-metre-long reptile was spotted on Sunday afternoon slithering across the fronts of several buildings in Marsden Park, in Sydney’s north-west.
Terrified locals showered local snake catcher Chris Williams with panicked screams as they watched the deadly discovery.
“There were three consecutive calls within a two-minute period,” Williams told Daily Mail Australia.
“There were some very scared people trying to get me on the phone.”
According to Mr Williams, residents had seen the snake crawling through the front gardens of several properties.
A short time later, the creature was found hiding on the side of a garden bed at the front of a house.
According to Williams, the reptile, the world’s second most venomous snake, was “quite thick” and “intimidating.”
Can you spot the deadly menace lurking at the side of a garden bed outside a house in Marsden Park, in Sydney’s northwest, on Sunday afternoon?
“It’s probably the biggest one I’ve caught yet,” he said.
Mr. Williams quickly removed the snake from the home’s yard and then placed it in a bag.
He said a large group of people had gathered on the street to keep an eye on the creature’s whereabouts.
“Once the animal calmed down and stopped moving, everyone on the street could see it,” Williams said.
‘When they realized it wasn’t going well anymore, they got to know each other and the snake served as an icebreaker for the street’.
The creature (pictured), the second most venomous snake in the world, was seen crawling through several gardens in the area
Mr Williams, who runs Urban Reptile Removal, says snakes often turn up in residential areas.
He said local wildlife is often driven out when areas are redeveloped on a large scale.
“Eastern porpoises have become very good at living together in urban and semi-urban environments. Their primary diet is mice,” Williams said.
“Where there are people, there are mice, so there’s just an attraction for eastern brown rats in urban areas.”
Marsden Park was first designated as a residential area in 2013.
It is expected that more than 33,000 homes will be built in the area by 2026.
Professional snake catcher and owner of Urban Reptile Removal Chris Williams (pictured) said eastern brown snakes have quickly adapted to life in urban areas
It is expected that around 250,000 people will live in the area once it is fully developed.
Mr Williams urged people not to chase away snakes if they encounter them where they live.
He said this will prevent the reptile from running away and make it more difficult for snake hunters to remove the reptile from the area.