Wheeler Heights lagoon-and-ridge guide

Wheeler Heights Snake Catcher

A sighting beside a South Creek garden, a sloping driveway or the Narrabeen Lagoon trail needs a precise access description. Keep clear, note the last position and call before trying to work out where the snake went.

Call SITC · 0411 103 488

The first two minutes

Clear the route

Bring children and pets indoors. Keep cyclists, walkers and neighbours away from the immediate area without approaching the snake yourself.

Fix the location in plain language

Use a house number, gate, stair, trail junction, reserve entrance or the side of a building. “Near the lake” is not enough to guide a response.

Call from a protected position

Snakes in the City records the address and access information, then coordinates an available licensed catcher according to availability and location. A general call-out fee applies; confirm it by phone.

Lagoon trail, South Creek or private yard?

The access plan changes across this compact suburb. Council material places South Creek Reserve and St Matthews Farm on South Creek Road, while its Narrabeen Lagoon guide shows the trail passing the Wheeler Heights side of the water. On public land, give the closest formal entrance and landmark and stay on the safe side of the path. Do not pursue a snake into vegetation or down the bank. At home, identify the exact cover it used: under a step, behind a bin enclosure, along a retaining wall or into a drainage opening. Do not lift the object or block the exit. If the sighting is in a shared driveway or townhouse area, nominate one resident who can meet the catcher and keep other people from walking through.

Bushland path on the Narrabeen Lagoon trail at Wheeler Heights — Narrabeen Lagoon trail at Wheeler Heights; local landscape context, not a SITC call-out. Photo: Wheres.dot, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikimedia-generated 1200-pixel resize; no crop or content change.

If sight is lost

Remember the last opening or cover point, keep the area still and call. Searching through leaf litter, stacked pots or storage makes the location less certain and can bring you closer to the animal.

If a photograph is possible

Use zoom only from a stable, safe distance. Do not step off a trail, lean over a bank or delay the call to obtain an image. Colour and size alone are not reliable identification.

Bites are emergencies for people and pets

For a possible human snakebite, call 000. Keep the person still, apply pressure immobilisation and follow emergency instructions. Do not wash the bite and do not drive the patient unless emergency services direct you. Healthdirect provides the current first-aid sequence. Northern Beaches Hospital at 105 Frenchs Forest Road West has a 24-hour emergency department; suspected bites still go through 000. For a pet, call a veterinarian immediately. Collaroy Veterinary Hospital, 1185 Pittwater Road, lists 02 9971 8487 and asks emergency callers to phone first. For after-hours emergency care, NEVS, 16 Myoora Road, Terrey Hills, lists 02 9452 2933 and operates 365 days a year. No statement here guarantees that either provider stocks a particular antivenom.

Read grid H4 as orientation, not a suburb score

Wheeler Heights sits within grid H4 on the 2025 Sydney observation report. The 38 records apply to the whole approximately 11 by 9 km square, not Wheeler Heights. The count is not a danger score, live tracker or tally of Snakes in the City call-outs, and it does not establish that an observation occurred in this suburb. Nearby guides are chosen for real boundaries and access: Collaroy Plateau for the ridge side, Cromer around the South Creek corridor, and Narrabeen around the lagoon approaches. Use the Northern Beaches service page as the geographical hub or the main service-area directory for a wider search.

More nearby suburb guides

North Narrabeen