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

Seems brush turkeys and snakes are not the best of friends:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/video/2021/dec/20/australian-brush-turkey-sends-diamond-python-running-video

Could the kids make him his own twitter/FB/social page? They sound common place round your neck of the woods (no offence, Mr Hissy) but a bit of positive promotion and a few likes might also help keep him protected from the neighbours.

Mr Hissy stays!
Saw my Australian cousin yesterday for the first time in 15 years. He had a python living in his roof for 6 years and said it was great for keeping the rodents down. But he was worried when his dogs were puppies.
(My tiny mind was blown!)

Team Mr Hissy.

The wildlife anywhere in Australia can be a bit hair-raising (I speak from experience 😬😱😅), but carpet pythons are just fine.

Note to self: never move to Australia!

Probably a golden orb spider. They have large messy webs.

As someone with a very real phobia of spiders (can't even look at photos, have dropped my phone before cos a video/image has come up in my feed. Even dead spiders are a no go. Even BITS of a dead spider! It's bloody ridiculous & I hate it) your neighbour is being an idiot 🤣

I've been to south africa a few times cos of in-laws & every single sodding time I have an encounter & it is usually accompanied by one of them saying 'oh it's just a flatty!' (Just?! They are fucking HUGE!) or 'wow I've never actually seen a rain spider on the house before in the 40 years we've lived here!' (whilst I'm hyperventilating & unable to speak in the middle of the garden - I'm not a screamer. You might get one loud 'FUCK' then nothing cos I can't breathe). I barely sleep for the duration of my visits.

My favourite was on a river camp - 'oh the golden orb spiders live above the (outdoor) dining room table & they drop down occasionally' - DO THEY?! DO THEY REALLY? WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

Also - staying out in the bush or on game reserves is a baaaaaad idea. Fuck me I fucking hate it, HATE IT. So I'd never move there & nor would I visit australia - it's my problem, not anyone else's.

I bloody love snakes though & have managed to NEVER see one! Not in the bush, not in the city, not on the game reserves. Not in the UK & I'm in Cornwall where we've loads of adders & grass snakes. Not even seen a slow worm 😭

Just some orb weaver type garden spider most likely, they can make huge webs and be petty impressive sizes themselves

Maybe it would be worth you and the neighbours talking to an expert together?Realistically, even if you get rid of Mr Hissy another python will move in to what is clearly a desirable residence I would have thought.

As you say, Mrs neighbour is living in the wrong place (and how), not Mr Hissy.

It's utterly pointless getting rid of the harmless snake as others (possibly venomous ones) will just move into the territory vacuum. I have sympathy for the phobia sufferer, it's not nice to live with fears like that, but she would be better off seeking treatment rather than trying to empty the country of snakes.

We have foxes where we are and as a result, we also have fewer rats and grey squirrels than we used to. I imagine if the foxes were driven out the number of rodents would increase as a consequence, so I'll take the foxes thanks.

Only humans don't have a place in the food web, we're the anomaly here...

(Also envious of the OP in toasty 28 degrees, as I find the cold painful, 28 is lovely. We've currently got a miserly 16 and it's supposed to be summer!)

This thread is brilliant and how unlike the usual Mumsnet neighbour issues! The most dangerous bitey stingy bois we get are bumble bees and foxes. Which are all harmless. Different world ....

Sounreasonable · Today 08:13

All of this I could cope with- but I have a fit of the vapours at the thought of a snake… which is why if I ever emigrate it will be to Canada and not Australia!

Watch out for the rattlesnakes in Canada!

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/plants-animals-and-ecosystems/species-ecosystems-at-risk/brochures/western_rattlesnake.pdf

I saw more snakes in suburbia and the city than I ever have rurally.

In fact, while living in Brisbane, I went to use a friend’s bathroom and a carpet python had climbed up her toilet (common as they get into the system from chasing frogs). Sydney; breastfeeding baby and a snake slithered right between my legs. Perth; middle of the highway in rush hour there were two snakes just causally rooting (mating)! I lived in the outback (qld) for years and didn’t see a snake once. They’re disturbed less so are less likely to be detected. Suburbs are probably the worst if there is a lot of construction happening.

Our ‘pet’ carpet python (Fluffy) is about 4m long and likely 20yrs old at an estimate. He hangs about under our house. Love it because a) he’s non venomous, b) he keeps rodents, lizards and other snakes away and c) he does his thing and we do ours with some unspoken, mutual respect for one another. I don’t like snakes by a long shot, but Fluffy is…fluffy.

Same with huntsmen. So misunderstood. They keep other spiders away, by eating them.

You can literally go years here without seeing a snake or spider. It’s not like they’re hiding round every corner waiting to pounce on unsuspecting humans. Like magpies. Or British men on working holiday visas…

Boogiemam · Today 09:59

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

I rescued this one from an ant's nest, in Kazakhstan:

@Aussiegirl123456 funny you should say that that about not seeing them, when my SA in-laws visit they are shocked by house spiders & how often we see them. Caught 3 of the blokes (all outdoorsy bush/river types) staring at a giant house spider really shocked at its size, quite repulsed & I was like 'uh, we see them all the time!'

I seem to be the anomaly here but I saw a grass snake swimming along a flooded ditch when I lived in Cambridge and I was absolutely thrilled. I'd love seeing harmless snakes about the place.

Wow, Australia sounds fab! I'm definitely on team Mr Hissy the rodent catcher.😁

Rummly · Today 10:02

Seems brush turkeys and snakes are not the best of friends:

I was near Darwin in 2009 and a couple of blokes shouted at me, "Come and watch this!"

It was a kookaburra, killing a snake in someone's garden! The snake had a bloody good go back, but kook won in the end, it took about ten minutes.

Team Hissy here but so, so thankful I live in SW England 😂🙈

I’m also Team Hissy. We have loads of adders round here and I am a bit nervous of them but DD and her partner rescue reptiles and have a few snakes and I love seeing them.

Where do all these adders live? In all my decades - including plenty of time spent in the UK countryside - I’ve never had the privilege of seeing one. 😞

We have grass snakes (quite big ones) and slow worms in our garden (Surrey, UK). We see them if it gets really hot and the natural ponds dry up around us - we have a constructed pond, so presume they head for that. The kids find them fascinating, I took the approach they were here before me and they're not dangerous - so we will coexist.

Keep Mr Hissy - are they going to remove every snake as there will be more.

This is why I'll never go to Australia.

Team Hissy here.

I have to get my eyes tested though because I wondered why people were posting duck emojis 🐍 then zoomed in.....

On a serious note, I think telling neighbours you've had Mr Hissy relocated by proper authority is the best idea. If they ever see him again they're not going to know it's not Mr Hissy 2

@rummly we’re in Gower. I’ve usually seen them when walking the dogs on hills or sandy coastal places or cliff paths.