Australian woman wakes to 5m python surprise

A huge snake that has lived in the roof of an Australian home for 10 years has tried to upgrade to the master bedroom.

Trina Hibberd, from Mission Beach in Queensland, woke on Monday to find the 5.2m scrub python named Monty stretched from her lounge room to her bedroom.

Monty managed to turn on a light and knock over a lamp before snake-catcher Dave Goodwin arrived.

Mr Goodwin induced the snake to wrap around his forearm before capturing it inside a plastic home-brewing jug.

Monty has now been transferred to a sewage pond

He told the BBC the 40kg snake was "choking [his] arm to death" before he transferred it into the tub.

"When you go near them they have this real deep gurgle in their throat, which means in other words don't come near me," he said.

To encourage the snake to grab hold of his arm, Mr Goodwin first grabbed it near the head with a pair of tongs.

"The tongs won't hold it, it's too big, so I use the tongs to divert its attention and grab it by the scruff of the neck," he said.

"That ensures that the snake lets go of everything else, wraps himself around my arm."

'Big fatso'

Ms Hibberd said a friend staying at her house first noticed the gargantuan reptile's presence.

"I guess he came in to have a bit of a feed or say hello, or he's gone a bit senile. I've no idea," she told the BBC.

But she thinks he has been living in the roof of her house for many years.

Monty has now been transferred to a sewage pond within the Cassowary Coast Regional Council area, where it is hoped he will take care of a rat infestation.

"I guess Monty has gone to snake heaven and he's going to be this big fatso," Ms Hibberd said.