Big Male Snake Searching for Female Bites Man on Head

A big male carpet python searching for a female in a ceiling bit a snake-catcher on the head while he was trying to remove it.

The incident occurred when Drew Godfrey, from the Hervey Bay Snake Catchers in Queensland, Australia, arrived to a house on Monday where a 5-foot carpet python was lurking in the ceiling.

Carpet pythons are a non-venomous snake species and can be found almost everywhere in Australia, except Tasmania. They live in a wide range of habitats from the wet tropics to near-arid deserts.

It is one of the most frequently sighted snakes in Hervey Bay, growing up to 11 feet. However, in some rare cases, carpet pythons can reach 13 feet in length.

The carpet python was in the same house where the snake-catcher had removed two breeding snakes the week before, he said in a Facebook post.

This python was a male, and according to Godfrey, its presence is not uncommon as snake pheromones can hang around for a few weeks after a female has been removed from an area.

In YouTube footage of the removal, Godfrey can be seen taking the python from the ceiling. The snake then lunges and bites the snake-catcher on his head.

"The bite wasn't a big deal because carpet pythons, like all pythons, are non-venomous. It also doesn't hurt at all," Godfrey told Newsweek.

Carpet pythons do not usually bite humans, and Godfrey said in a Facebook post that it was the first snake ever to bite him on the head in five years.

"We shouldn't be afraid of snakes because they mean us no harm. They aren't aggressive. They're just defensive," Godfrey told Newsweek.

"They also play an integral role in the ecosystem, so the thought of a world without snakes is much more frightening than a world with snakes."

In the footage of the incident, Godfrey can be seen removing the snake from a bag and releasing it back into the wild.

"First snake to ever get time in the head," he says in the video. "First thing Monday morning, I'm off my game."

Godfrey said the snake could probably smell the female that had been removed from the house the previous week.

Australia's snake season usually lasts from October until April. This is the time during the summer months when snakes come out of hiding, as they seek warmth to help their bodies digest food.