SNAKES IN THE CITY · PITTWATER
Snake catcher help in Morning Bay
Report the sighting from safety, then confirm the landing and property approach. Offshore attendance depends on catcher availability and boat access.
A waterfront address is different from a lookout
When calling from Morning Bay, say whether the sighting is beside a home, at a landing or on a national-park walking track. A bay name alone does not identify the approach a catcher will need.
NSW National Parks describes the Bairne walking track and its Pittwater lookouts. Someone above Towlers Bay and someone at a foreshore property can be describing quite different access. Use an address or the signed track name and the last position you actually saw. Do not move closer to obtain a more precise description.
Agree on access before anyone departs
Snakes in the City can arrange offshore attendance subject to an available licensed catcher and suitable boat access. The office will discuss the landing, onward approach, contact person and call-out fee. Do not assume a ferry service or a private jetty is an agreed transport arrangement.
- Give the property address and the landing name separately.
- Explain any known steps or narrow paths between the landing and property without walking back towards the snake.
- Have the person authorised to allow entry available by phone.
- Tell dispatch if the last sighting changes; do not follow the snake into cover.
If it disappears beside the house
Keep people and pets away from the last-seen area. Do not lift stored materials, reach beneath a deck or use water to force it out. A snake moving out of view is not evidence that it has left the property. Tell the catcher where it was last visible and whether you observed a direction of movement.
A snake simply travelling through bushland does not automatically require removal. Keep clear on a park track, allow space and use the park authority’s guidance. Never block its path for a photograph.
Regional emergency department: Northern Beaches Hospital, 105 Frenchs Forest Road West, Frenchs Forest, open 24 hours. For suspected snakebite, call 000; the ambulance service determines transport and destination.
Pets and emergency care
For a suspected pet bite, call a vet immediately, keep the animal quiet and describe the boat-transfer arrangements. Mona Vale Veterinary Hospital, 22 Park Street, 02 9999 2269, lists weekday hours 8am–7pm and Saturday 8am–4pm. Its after-hours referral is 02 9452 2933; confirm the receiving clinic before travel. Do not wait for a snake catcher to arrange veterinary care.
Reading the regional observation map
Grid H3 in the 2025 observation report contains 26 records across the whole approximately 11 by 9 km square, not Morning Bay alone. Inclusion does not establish a sighting in this locality. These are public observation records, not unique snake totals or SITC call-outs. This is not a danger map or real-time snake tracker.
Other Pittwater access guides
Compare foreshore arrangements in Elvina Bay and Lovett Bay, boat-access questions at Coasters Retreat, and park settings in Ku-ring-gai Chase. Each has its own access conditions.
See our Northern Beaches service guide and Sydney area directory. Local information checked 9 November 2026.