That's no plaything!
A ROGUE taipan causing panic at Cooktown for many years has finally been bagged when it was spotted at a children's playground on the town's waterfront.
The seven-year-old snake, estimated to be 2.2m long, has eluded snake wrangler Jim Symes, in the town 350km north of Cairns, for more than two years.
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Its number finally came up on Sunday when it was caught behind The Lure Shop after making a dash across the main road to seek refuge from the Lions Park children’s playground.
"It has been sighted a few times but nobody has been able to catch it," Mr Symes said.
"I’ve been called out four times in the past couple of years but this time Russell Bowman from The Lure Shop kept an eye on it and I caught it behind an old fridge."
Mr Symes said the snake was not aggressive and, after escaping capture on numerous occasions, she surrendered without a fight.
"She has been living near the road between the bowls club and the RSL and I reckon she wasn’t aggressive because she is used to people," he said.
"Last year, there were five babies that hatched in the area and three of them were run over but there is every chance they were her babies."
The taipan holds the honour of being one of the world’s most dangerous land snakes and Mr Symes said if a child had been bitten on Sunday, death would have been a certainty.
"My nephew was bitten a couple of years ago by a taipan and he is a young and fit bloke but he said within 20 minutes he had no vision and couldn’t breathe.
"The anti-venom sorted him out but if this snake had bitten a kid, they would not have had a chance."
The snake was released between Cooktown and Lakeland on Sunday and Mr Symes said if it wanted to make its way back to Cooktown, it would have to swim across the Annan River.
"I don’t think she will be back, but Cooktown has a good supply of taipans," he said.
"They are out looking for food and the females are on the move now the mating season is over. They should be laying eggs in about six weeks and they will hatch around January."
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Out of luck: This 2.2m long taipan, which made hay of its freedom at Cooktown, finally lost its two-year escapades to snake wrangler Jim Symes on Sunday.
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