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

Your neighbours are being ridiculous. If they want to live in a snake free zone they should leave Australia and move to Ireland. Leave Mr Hissy where he is.

Omg of course Mr Hissy has to stay. He has been there way longer than this neighbour I assume.

I am feeling a bit jealous, also in the SH but my visitors are a bit mild. We get quite a lot of mole snakes (but did run into a green mamba once), and I have a resident Dassie (I didn't know the proper name for him until I googled it now to post it - a rock hyrax). We share him in the neighbourhood though, and he likes a bit of variety of gardens. When someone on our street WA group posts that he has moved in there for a bit (he likes a bit of under shed), I get a bit narked as it feels like he is cheating on me. He is very inoffensive though, and the worst I expect could happen is that someone mistakes him for a (very) big rat.

So OP, next time you spot Mr H, please try take a video of him if you can. And I would just suggest to the neighbour that he could well be living under her house, and maybe she will move 😀

Just dropping in to say I love Mr Hissy’s name 😄

Yes, he seems to spend most of his time in the toilet (room not actual toilet) and comes out to cruise and knock things off the shelves. We also have a couple of brush tail possums living in the space between the ceiling and the upper floor.

The bush turkey seems to have buggered off though, got very sick of him trashing the garden and fighting himself in the sliding doors.

Most definitely different to the usual threads and I too, clicked on expecting the ops underwear to be upsetting the neighbours.

It is true! As children we had lessons on what do do when faced with a snake. Just as normal as learning to crawl under the desk in case of a bomb scare.

Pity it didn't come in useful the day my brother and I were charged by a bunch of bush pigs.

SA? That’s another fabulous country I’ve never been to but is on my list.

I envy all you MNers living in such breathtaking places.

Honestly if it’s not poisonous then why is she bothered. lol tell her you are simply mr hissys lodger now and he owns the house 😂

Reminds me of when me and now DH were in NZ and found a huntsman under a T-shirt on the floor. lol oh how we laugh now but fuck me, we nearly left the country 😂😂😂

Mr Hissy was there first. Is there a neighbour removal service?

Of all the genuinely obnoxious and dangerous wild critters in FNQ, she picks a placid, harmless one to be afriad of. She's Jatz crackers, that one.

I see 'few kangaroos loose in the top paddock' has been taken so I'll go with 'a few cans short of a sixpack'.

Bullshit thread or stupidest person ever.

You decide.

Everyone I've met from that part of the world knows and understands a lot about the wildlife there because it can kill you.

If you were that scared of it you would live in the cities / towns where it is less prevalent.

I became tangled in a huntsman’s web once, while cutting across a piece of scrub in the dark. I couldn’t snap it - it was like elastic bands. I’m not actually frightened of spiders but it was a horrible experience. I live in the uk where the spiders are of more reasonable size 😁

Mr Hissy ought to be left alone. He sounds great!

Best neighbours thread ever.

Definitely hoping that your neighbours are law abiding re being shown the relevant section of the wildlife protection laws.

The only thing that stops me visiting Australia is my arachnophobia. I'm bad enough with what we get in the UK.
But it has just occurred to me - where was St Francis when it came spiders?
I would love there to be a large spider free island I could emigrate to.
Obviously not an arachnophobia sufferer himself

No you didn't. Huntsman spiders don't make webs.

Voted YANBU but that’s because Mr Hissy is the other side of the world and not really likely to get on a plane and come to the UK.

I would be massively freaked out seeing Mr Hissy if I’m honest, but I would much rather a chilled out Mr Hissy who is non venomous/poisonous than a cousin of Mr Hissy who is.

Is there any other reason the neighbours are freaking out? Is Mr Hissy likely to snack on their pet?

I can't be the only person that wished the dialogue of that vid was slightly different and went....

Is it a tree snake?

No it's a carpet snake

Why is it in the tree then?

Cos it's looking for a fucking carpet!

Wait until a kangaroo 🦘 comes along and starts boxing with her 😂 🥊

Team Mr Hissy 🐍

Wish I lived in Australia.

My god. I'm going to have nightmares tonight.

If they get their way and get rid of Hissy, he might be replaced with a far less suitable critter and that makes her problem, your problem.

I lived in a flat with some friends and a 12' python that used to lie on me when I was asleep. Once you get to know their habits, they are easy company. Just getting rid because it's something she is scared of is ridiculous.

She needs to get out of Australia is she can't cope with snakes. Greenland maybe? Iceland?

Team Mr Hissy too!

UK here and snakes weird me out but he sounds like a good house / garden mate.

Toddler DD once point out we had a snake in the garden, turned out to be an elephant hawk moth caterpillar which I was very thankful for 😂

Oh! What was it then?

I told a uk friend who’d been living in Aus for many years and that’s what she said it would have been.

Perhaps something even bigger 🙀

I once came home to a note from my burglar alarm monitoring company telling me that the alarm had been triggered by a Viper in the downstairs toilet. No more explanation than that.
I was a little apprehensive when entering the loo to say the least. DH then worked out that Viper is the code for a vibration sensor alarm being triggered 🙄 Phew.

Amazing video that!

I'd tell your neighbour to get stuffed btw

Yes in SA.

I will see if I can find the photo of the frog we shared accommodation with on a recent holiday. Clearly he was not moving out to make way for us, so we had to share the shower.

😀