QLD’s Swimming Snake Bloke Being Investigated By Police, May Lose His M8

By

Published

March 3, 2016

Look, we all had a good laugh and felt a small swell of what little national pride burns within us when we saw that video of a bloke having a swim with his pet snake whilst swigging from a VB tallie the other day.

For those of you who’d like the memory refresher, the Instagram post from Brisbane muso Indy Bones looks a little something like this.

There’s currently a bloke down here drinking a VB tally and chucking his pet snake around. Amazing

A video posted by Indiana Bones (@indy.bones) on Feb 26, 2016 at 10:50pm PST

But what, on the surface, appears to be harmless fun between a man and his snake could, in actual fact, turn out to be something a little more serious.

Since the video exploded onto the internet and did the rounds of just about every media outlet known to man – including this one – snake and reptile experts have been up in arms about the behaviour.

As it turns out, (land) snakes aren’t exactly too keen on the water. And what at first glance appears to be the snake playfully swimming back to its owner after each throw might well be a supremely panicked animal trying desperately to get the fuck out.

In fact, the response to the video has been so strong that Queensland Police and the RSPCA are now reportedly investigating the snake’s owner, and may well remove the snake from his possession.

The man in question, Steve Brimelow, bought the snake and her tank off a private breeder on Gumtree for $300, after obtaining a license to own the animal from the QLD Department of Environment and Heritage Protection. The snake-owner’s license also states that the snake must remain within the confines of the home unless visiting a vet, or if the owner has a special additional license for educational purposes.

Brimelow bought the snake, he says, in order to help him deal with the pain of having a prized dirtbike stolen.

“I bought her after my bike was stolen — to kill the pain and have a good time together.”

“She’s never bitten me. She’s the love of my life. We are together all day, every day.”

But the snake – Dora, because “she’s always exploring” – could be taken away from Brimelow.

RSPCA reptile handler Shannon Beagan stated that Brimelow’s actions were “outrageous.”

“Firstly, it is in no way a natural environment for the snake to be in.”

“I imagine it would be causing a great deal of stress to the animal to be hurled through the air like that and then to slap down on the water.”

“Snakes do not attach to their owners, or come when called — it looks like a stressed animal trying to get out of the water. Quite a disturbing display.”

Meanwhile RSPCA spokesman Michael Beatty stated that the actions were probably borne more out of ignorance rather than maliciousness, and that despite the display the intentions may well have been good.

“It is cruel, but it’s also gross stupidity rather than deliberate animal cruelty.”

“I’m sure the person concerned basically believes he loves his snake.”

The QLD Department of Environment and Heritage Protection issues a statement confirming that it was talking with Queensland Police in relation to the incident.

Let’s hope this just results in a better educated, loving reptile-owner, yeah?

Source: Gold Coast Bulletin, ABC News.