Wyndham council has been slammed for its decision to stop removing snakes from private property.
Council recently announced that it would no longer provide a free snake removal service for private properties, effective from September 1.
The service will continue for snakes found on council land such as parks, reserves and nature strips.
Point Cook local Dwayne Kelly said he was “very disappointed” when he heard about the decision.
“The free snake catching service is an essential service that has been used for many years,“ he said.
“To have it taken away seemingly overnight with no community consultation or public announcement is very concerning.”
Two of the world’s most deadly snakes, the eastern brown snake and the tiger snake, are among the most commonly found species in Wyndham.
“We have some of the most venomous snakes in the world. Having this service you have the ability to call in professionals who are trained to remove these deadly animals,” Mr Kelly said.
“In a cost of living crisis, some in our community may not have the ability to pay for a private snake catcher to come out and remove a snake from their yard.
“Unfortunately snakes can’t tell the difference between private and public land.
“What happens if people start trying to remove them themselves if they can’t afford a private service? I have on several occasions ( had to remove a snake). It is very confronting and quite scary when you see them out moving quite quickly.“
A Wyndham spokesperson said that council recently conducted an evaluation of the service and found that it was not longer viable.
“Of the total 942 call outs, between February 2024 and February 2025, 77 per cent there was either no snake being found, with many turning out to be false alarms or a non threatening species like blue-tongue lizards,“ the spokesperson said.
“The evaluation of the data highlights that the current service is used by a relatively small portion of the community, despite being funded by all ratepayers.”
The spokesperson also said that the average cost of providing the service has risen from $109 per job in 2000 to $226 per job today.
