A New South Wales snake catcher got a little more than he bargained for when a deadly eastern brown snake left almost two dozen eggs in his bag this week.
Sean Cade, owner of Australian Snake Catchers, removed the six-foot reptile from a home in Emu Heights, in Sydney's west, on Monday evening.
He waited until daylight to release her and was surprised to find "23 perfect eggs" left in the bag.
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"It was pretty weird," Mr Cade told 9news.com.au
"She left behind the gift of life.
"It does happen from time to time but it is rare. We will see how they turn out in around 60 days or so."
The eastern brown snake's venom is deemed the world's second most deadly, with the Inland Taipan topping the list.
Snake handlers around the state are conducting extremely delicate removals of the pregnant, otherwise known as gravid, reptiles — proving snake season is well and truly underway.
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In the last week of December 2021, Eurobodalla Snake Catcher Brendan Smith removed a gravid red-bellied black snake from a south coast home.
Red-bellies are a species of snake that gives birth to live young.
"Heavily gravid females will usually select a very safe, undisturbed and moist site to give birth to their offspring," the company explained on Facebook.
"They prefer lots of thick cover, debris, protection and clean water hence the chosen release site."
Snake season normally starts around mid September and runs to March.
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In October last year Mr Cade told 9News he was seeing an unusual amount of fat and healthy snakes.
"We're definitely seeing bigger ones coming out," Mr Cade told 9news.com.au, explaining there's not necessarily more snakes - just healthier ones
"For some reason they're a lot bigger and a lot healthier."
Wet weather is working in the snakes' favour as its providing perfect conditions for their food sources, CSIRO mouse expert Steve Henry told 9news.com.au.
"While there are plenty of mice, there are also plenty of frogs due to the wet weather.
"We will see lots of health snakes but not necessary more of them," he said.
