In Australia, we now have to watch out for snakes as well as sharks after a surfer was spotted on his board with a python around his neck, earning him a fine of more than $2,000.
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A video of this intrepid surfer catching waves on Australia’s famous Gold Coast south of Brisbane has caused a stir.
Authorities believed that he had a right to have a pet python lying in wait for him, but that under no circumstances could he remove it from the house where it was registered, let alone take it surfing.
“Specific approval is required to release it in a public place,” the Queensland Department of Environment said in a statement.
“Snakes are obviously cold-blooded animals and although they can swim, reptiles generally avoid water,” the ministry added. “The python would have found the water to be very cold and the only snakes that should be in the sea are sea snakes.”
The lurking python, a species found in Australia and Papua New Guinea, can grow up to three meters long.
They are non-venomous and wrap themselves around their prey until it suffocates.
These reptiles feed primarily on birds, lizards and small mammals.