Neighbours freaking out about my under house python- Mr Hissy

[MrHissyLives]

I live on tropical northern Australia and have had a resident carpet python living under my house. My kids call him Mr Hissy. I’ve been here 15 years and have seen him about half a dozen times, usually sliding in or out between the slats that close off the under side of my house. Carpet pythons are famously zen and most Aussies are happy to have one in their shed as they won’t bother you and keep the rats sorted.

Anyhow, I heard dramatic screaming last evening and rushed out to see my terrified neighbour frozen in fear, looking over our fence as Mr Hissy went back in under my house. I explained he has been there forever and is harmless but she was having a proper freak out and shouting that she couldn’t sleep ever again knowing he was next door. I said that there would be dozens mores snakes in our tropical gardens that she had never seen and she had lived there for three years and clearly Mr Hissy had never bothered her. This did not help. Her husband arrived home and said his wife was terrified of snakes and Mr Hissy Had.To.Go. In fact, he would call his cousin to come and remove Mr Hissy. I said no. Mr Hissy was on my property and was welcome to stay. They gave me death stares and left.

I do understand that phobias are irrational but fuck me, Mr Hissy has never done anything to them. I’m certainly not letting some random cousin come and get Mr Hissy- he will either take him away and kill him or release him somewhere where he won’t survive. In fact pythons are a protected species and only authorised wildlife removalists can move them as they will know the release places where the snake will most likely survive.

I’ve always got on well with these neighbours up till this point. Should I tell them that if they pay for an authorised wildlife remover to come and get Mr Hissy, I will allow it? Would that be a reasonable compromise? I really don’t want Mr Hissy to go, but is it worth falling out with my neighbours over?

So YABU- let neighbours pay to remove Mr Hissy
YANBU- Mr Hissy stays

Honestly I'd be getting a friend to put a 'snake catcher' decal on their van and to come in theatrically and go out with a hessian bag held at arm's length (with maybe a brick inside to make it seem authentically heavy) and then to leave again. If the neighbour sees Mr Hissy another time point out that nature abhors a vacuum and Mr Hissy's mate moved in.

Thank you for an interesting thread OP. It's such an eye opener about life in Australia!

I didn’t know that any Aussies were scared of snakes - thought it was almost an inherited requirement to make sure you can live there without going mad!

there was a great interview with Margot Robbie about it and her family’s snake stick for helping them back outside when they wandered in. The rest of the interview panel were a bit 😱

def team Mr Hissy here!

😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🪣

Anyway, I know I am sanguine about snakes, but my weird-as-shit phobia are cigarettes*. And those bastards are everywhere.

*true. They make me shivery and vomity and don't get me started on cigarette butts on the ground.

"Is that a tree snake?"
"No, it's a carpet snake."
"Well how did it fall into a tree?"

Outstanding questions from the small child in that video.

Totally irrelevant but I always warm a quiche, whatever the temperature, can't bear it cold, maybe a picnic but that's all.

On the subject of phobias I used to be awful about snakes, even now the hairs on my arms are twitching, if one was on TV, even if we changed channels or even switched off I knew it was still there. In one teaching job the school kept a lot of animals, eg the llama would go walkabout round the estate, and there was a python, Monty of course, in a tank near my classroom. I decided to stand in front of the tank and watch it, it didn't entirely cure me but I'm much better. My daughter, about 7, came into school once and tapped on the tank to 'wake him up'. Let's just say if the backwards long jump ever became an Olympic sport, she holds the World record.

YABU for no picture of Mr Hissy

Team mr hissy 🐍

Team Mr Hissy. He’s minding his own business.

I looked after a carpet python for a while (owner had to go abroad for a month) and he was one of the most laid back snakes I’ve ever encountered.

But as soon as a vacancy is created by removing the resident, non-venomous, harmless snake that is eating the rodents... it will be filled by another snake.

That snake may be another carpet python... or not. It might be another snake - the basic requirements for most are the same - shelter, rodents, access to water perhaps.

So theres no guarantee that the next tenant is non-venomous.

Even if the next resident in that particular space is another carpet python, thats still not going to give the neighbour any sort of peace of mind.

Just for those adamant that they would not want to visit Australia... don't watch if you don't want to see pictures of critters...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kdihHnaOQsk

I don't think that sounds safe, what if he gets into a babies room and suffocates it.

Perhaps they should consider moving then, or at least securing their own property. Mr Hissy is but one of many, many snakes in the area.

Is that how they work, do you know that?

✨ Such a joy of a thread I'm nominating to Classics! From the initial twist (appropriately) that it's not about underwear on the washing line, to meeting Mr Hissy, lots of photos, that video(!), field notes from around the world, narrow escapes, and now even a diagram!! Glorious. 🐍🦎🕷️

Aww hrtft but need a Mr Hissy pic

Snakes aren’t territorial, but they have a ‘home range’ area they know where they can access food, water and shelter. Remove Mr Hissy and the rat population will rise, which will attract other snakes to the area.

I’m weirdly fascinated by this thread, despite the utter horror of it, but am having to hold my phone at arm’s length while I scroll, so that if a photo appears I can whizz past it without actually seeing it. Still slightly freaked out by my thumb having to touch the photos, even if I manage not to see the images…

Absolutely not ok with the reports of snake sightings on Trumpington Road…

They've only seen it 6 times in 15 years so unlikely to be easy to get a photo of.

The neighbour was really unlucky (or lucky depending on your perspective) to see it at all.

I worked on a farm in Aus for a while and there were snakes under the miners hut I lived in. It was a little chilling the first time I came back and found fresh snake tracks over my footprints! But eventually I realized they were going out of their way to avoid me!

To an animal, anything substantially bigger than you is likely to be a predator. Not always true but better to be safe than to be eaten.

That's why snakes avoid areas where people are and slither away from them where possible.

I have no advice but I'm team Mr Hissy. He sounds ace!

In the interest of avoiding nightmares tonight I'm resisting the urge to google King Cockroaches! I've given myself the heebies now remembering our cross little critter, had we not moved it outside quickly I know it would have knocked it's way out of the glass!

Even though I'm scared of spiders and bugs I'd never kill anything though and sad to read the group response to one but at least the roach had it's final revenge.

I would love a mr Hissy! Got 13 corn snakes, want to swap one?