Fined for surfing with a python wrapped around his neck. This is the fate that befell a young Australian, filmed on the Gold Coast, south of Brisbane, while he sailed the blue waves carrying his snake with him. The authorities allowed him to keep him as a pet, but explained to him that he did not have permission to take him away from home, much less let him do outdoor sports.
“A separate permit is required to bring an animal into public or display,” the Queensland Department of Environment and Science said in a statement. Snakes are obviously cold-blooded animals and, although they can swim, they generally avoid water: “the python would have found the sea extremely cold and the only snakes that should be in the ocean are sea snakes.”
Carpet pythons like those of the surfer are non-venomous snakes that can reach three meters in length and which wrap themselves around their prey and squeeze it until it suffocates. They feed mainly on birds, lizards and other small mammals.