Cold comfort: Deadly reptile chills out in Alice Springs as town faces snake invasion

Alice Springs snake handlers are being run off their feet after an outbreak of the slithery serpents, which have invaded homes in "huge numbers" during a burst of warm night-time weather, including one that ended up in a household fridge.

"They have come out in huge numbers, all in a big rush," said Rex Neindorf, the director at the Alice Springs Reptile Centre.
"The big factor is the overnight temperatures," he said.
Although snake handlers in Alice Springs can expect to get a couple of calls each day when warm weather hits, the mild September nights have meant snakes are coming in much larger numbers than usual, with seven calls on Wednesday and another five calls on Thursday.
Reptile keeper Sarah Graham took a call from a woman who said she had a snake in her fridge.

In fridges and even in my fridge at home, quite often insects will get in there and then of course they die because it is cold, but then geckos and skinks can smell those things and they go there to grab a bite to eat, a bit like us getting a frozen pie in a way

Rex Neindorf, director of the Alice Springs Reptile Centre

"I thought it would be behind the fridge or under the fridge, where we normally can get them," Ms Graham said.
"She was like, 'no, it is in the fridge'," she said.
The snake, a 75-centimetre-long western brown - the ninth deadliest snake species in the world, packs enough venom to kill six people.
It was curled up under an egg tray in a compartment in the refrigerator door.
Ms Graham said the snake was so lethargic from the chilly conditions in the fridge that it was very easy to capture.
"He probably thought he would curl up and have a sleep," she said.
About 90 per cent of snakes found in people's homes in Alice Springs are venomous, and they can be attracted to refrigerators.
Mr Neindorf said that while there was an outside chance the snake had gotten into a lunchbox during the day that had been replaced in the fridge, but there was a more likely scenario.
"In fridges and even in my fridge at home, quite often insects will get in there and then of course they die because it is cold, but then geckos and skinks can smell those things and they go there to grab a bite to eat, a bit like us getting a frozen pie in a way," Mr Neindorf said.
"What happens is that when a skink or a gecko or a mouse wanders around the bottom of a fridge the snake picks up the scent trail and then follows it in," he said.