Australian snake catcher captures python with over 500 ticks on it

AUSTRALIA (FOX 10) -- Officials with a snake catcher organization in Australia's Queensland state say a carpet python snake they caught had over 500 ticks living on it.

511, to be exact.

The Gold Coast and Brisbane Snake Catcher group has been posting pictures of the snake on its unverified Facebook page. The snake, according to officials, was caught in Coolangatta, a southern suburb in the city of Gold Coast. The snake's capture was streamed live on Facebook on Thursday (local time)

(Can't see the video? Click here)

The video shows the snake was found at a home's backyard pool.

"He's got hundreds of ticks on him. Hundreds and hundreds, and that's why he's in the water. He's trying to drown them," the snake catcher was heard saying in the video.

In photos posted by the organization, ticks of varying sizes were seen on the snake, and officials say never in 26 years of catching has the snake catcher, identified as Tony Harrison, ever seen something this bad.

Officials say vets worked for hours to remove the visible ticks, but there are still tiny young ones under the scales, and the snake, which they named Nike, will be treated with drugs to kill off the remaining ticks.

FOX 10 reported on this story from Phoenix