Snake in pyjama drawer gives Adelaide Hills woman fright of her life

An Adelaide Hills woman has had the fright of her life after she found a red-bellied black snake curled up in her pyjama drawer on Wednesday night.

Cheryl Gilchrist was getting ready for bed when she reached into her drawer and nearly pulled the snake out instead of her pyjamas.

“I thought something’s not right here, it felt really weird, it felt like a lizard or maybe a thick rubber hose.”

“Then I put two and two together and thought ‘oh my god’, it’s a snake.”

“I quickly stepped back and it moved just slightly.”

The Meadows woman said she has never seen any snakes near her house before.

“This is my first encounter and hopefully my last,” Ms Gilchrist said.

Snake catcher Tom Dunning retrieved the snake, which measured just over a metre long.

The snake had slithered up three levels of drawers like a ladder.

Mr Dunning said it was probably looking for somewhere to “bunker down for the night”.

Meadows is close to the area burnt in the Cherry Gardens bushfire on Sunday and Monday.

Mr Dunning said there was a “good possibility” the snake had been affected by the bushfire.

“Obviously, with the Cudlee Creek fires last year, we had a lot of callouts in and around the surrounding areas with animals flushed out of their natural habitat,” he said.

“We’re seeing the same effect this year with the Cherry Gardens fire so obviously, with close proximity to that, it could have caused this animal to find somewhere to bunker down safely.”

Mr Dunning said there had been a more consistent number of snakes found each day this summer, rather than spikes, with lower than average temperatures in Adelaide.

He said people could avoid snakes getting into their homes by making sure seals on door jambs were tight and flyscreens did not have holes.

He also suggested not leaving doors ajar, even when going out momentarily.

“If you do see a snake, keep an eye on it from a safe distance and contact your local snake catcher to remove it safely,” he said.