{"id":559996,"date":"2026-03-24T00:06:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T00:06:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/559996\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T00:06:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T00:06:10","slug":"neighbours-dangerous-backyard-item-leads-to-sad-discovery-really-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/559996\/","title":{"rendered":"Neighbour’s dangerous backyard item leads to ‘sad’ discovery: ‘Really bad’"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a Sydney resident spotted the tail of a deadly red-bellied black snake <\/a>in her yard, she initially thought it was sunning itself and would move on.<\/p>\n

The next day, however, the reptile had failed to move on, so she called in the experts<\/a> for help.<\/p>\n

Tyler Gibbons from Shire Snake Wranglers<\/a> arrived at the home in Gymea last week, and quickly realised there was a reason the snake hadn’t moved \u2014 it was tightly entangled in dangerous tree netting.<\/p>\n

“The netting was actually next door,” he told Yahoo News, explaining that the snake’s head was stuck inside the net on one side of the fence, while its tail remained on his client’s side.<\/p>\n

The neighbours were using the netting to protect their fruit trees from bats and birds, and while one side of the yard was using the correct material \u2014 with mesh smaller than 5mm \u2014 the other side where the snake entered was covered with netting that is illegal in some jurisdictions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Left:<\/p>\n

Snake catcher Tyler Gibbons had to free the snake onsite. Source: Shire Snake Wranglers<\/p>\n

Using illegal netting can be a costly mistake<\/a>, with fines of up to $800 in the ACT and on-the-spot fines of $395 in Victoria.<\/p>\n

“It’s really bad for bats<\/a> and birds and things like that, and reptiles, of course,\u201d Tyler said. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit sad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Usually Tyler and his team are able to take a snake away to treat it and remove netting, but in this case the netting was so tight it had to be removed urgently.<\/p>\n

Photos of the rescue show the netting so firmly wrapped around the snake that its head can\u2019t be seen.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, Tyler managed to cut it free and it escaped with only minor scale damage.<\/p>\n

“It was very, very lucky it actually didn’t do too much damage,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Left:<\/p>\n

The snake was stuck between properties. Source: Shire Snake Wranglers<\/p>\n

Wildlife trapped ‘all the time’ in netting<\/p>\n

Tyler also works with WIRES, and said jobs relating to wildlife trapped in nets came in “all the time\u201d.<\/p>\n

“It’s fairly common, probably a couple a week,” he said, noting that in some cases the netting can start cutting into the animal’s flesh if it has been trapped for too long.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the message is definitely getting out there around this netting,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven Bunnings is getting to the stage where they’re only having compliant netting. So it\u2019s good, but you can still purchase the non-compliant netting in other places<\/a>, online as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

WIRES advises gardeners<\/a> to use either individual fruit protection bags or a densely woven net to protect the whole tree.<\/p>\n

The mesh size should be less than 5mm, and you should not be able to poke a finger through.<\/p>\n

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can also follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n