WELCOME to Queensland where snakes hang out in a reptile version of the Hard Rock Hotel.
This particular ‘hotel’ exists within a townhouse complex on Tequesta Drive, Beaudesert.
So frequent are snakes seen slithering in and around the complexes retaining walls locals nicknamed it the snake hotel.
Michelle Hodges lives in one of the houses and her backyard faces a retaining wall constructed of large stacked boulders.
She has lived in the complex for two years and said snakes made an appearance this time last year as well.
“Last year I saw a big brown snake, it was about a metre and a half long and was standing up as if it wanted to attack,” she said.
“That put me off going out there a bit.
“There are lots of rats in that back wall during certain times of the year...it doesn’t matter if you are clean or not, they still come.
“I think that’s why the snakes go there, they’re after the rats.”
She said it was easy to tell when the snakes were around because the rats were gone.
Ms Hodges took photographs of snakes she spotted and asked for advice on what species they were.
“I wouldn’t have known what kind of snakes they are, someone got back to me and said they were keelbacks,” she said.                                                                                                “There are snakes everywhere in Beaudesert, last year people were talking about how they’d seen them in parks and in the water.”
While the thought of a snake slithering its way inside a house gives most people the shivers, some methods to create entry way barriers are too extreme for nature lovers.
“My cousin told me about a chemical you can put down and it burns the snakes when they come into contact with it,” she said.
“It causes their skin to blister...I couldn’t do that to them, I don’t want to hurt anything.”
Shannon West is another Tequesta Drive resident aware of its serpentine visitors.
“It is definitely (called) the snake hotel, I have been here 11 years,” she said.
“I’ve had numerous browns, red belly blacks and tree snakes in the yard and a few in the house.
“I leave a long handled shovel at my back door just in case I need to discourage any from coming into the house.”
Ms Hodges said while the snakes scared her, she tried not to let it overwhelm her.
“The snakes have just as much right as we do to have somewhere to live and be able to catch their prey and survive,” she said.
“I try not to think about it too much, but I am careful when I am in my backyard.”