'She was frantic': venomous snake found curled up under baby's cot

A desperate call for help saw Tilligery Reptile Relocation Services professional snake catcher Craig Regan rush to the scene on Tuesday morning.

"When I arrived the lady and two kids were outside - they weren't too sure if it was a red belly or a brown snake," he said.

"She was frantic, petrified. She didn't understand how it got inside."

He said the red-bellied measured just over a metre long.

"I opened the door of the bedroom, the cot was in to the right hand side and there it was, curled up in a comfortable position," Mr Regan said.

Sliding the cot and a bedside table out of the way he captured it safely and placed the slippery serpent into a bag.

"I relocated it and reassured the resident and her children there were no snakes in the property," he said.

Mr Regan said it was likely the reptile slithered in through a gap in the bottom of the property's front screen door.

"The screen door was broken so it potentially came through there, but there's a lot of entry points in houses. They can come up through dishwashers and exhaust fans in the bathroom or kitchen," he said.

It has been a busy week for Mr Regan who attended four call outs on Thursday where he captured a red-bellied black snake in a cupboard at a retirement village and a venomous Bandy-bandy snake from a house in Tea Gardens.

Meanwhile at Cooks Hill, a mine worker got a nasty shock when a red-bellied black snake slithered onto his windshield before it became entangled in the engine of his car.

Hunter Wildlife Rescue reptile rescuer Anil Lakkundi had the tough task of removing the dangerous snake near Aldi last week.

"This guy lived in an apartment block on King Street, he works in the mines and was driving back when suddenly he saw the snake come up on his windshield," he said.

"It took a while to get the snake out but we got him eventually."

Mr Lakkundi said snakes are becoming more active across the Hunter thanks to a string of hot summer days.

"They are everywhere, with the warmer weather they do come out to bask, when they need to cool down they move around and coincidentally people's homes are in their way, so they do get in," he said.

"We're seeing snakes all over the place and the calls are for all different species, usually pythons, common tree snakes, red bellies and golden crown snakes as well, we don't tend to get eastern brown snakes in Newcastle, usually we see them more near Maitland.

"We've had a few more calls than usual but that's not unexpected in this season, when it's hot we do get more calls."

Mr Lakkundi said members of the public should keep doors, windows and garages closed to make sure snakes don't have a chance to slither in.

"If anyone sees a snake, they should call a licensed snake catcher or Hunter Wildlife Rescue, do not handle the snake, do not try to remove the snake, because that's when bites happen," he said.

For more information on snakes or snake rescue, contact Hunter Wildlife Rescue on 0418 628 483 or WIRES at 1300 094 737.