Snake entangled in fridge ice dispenser spotted by resident who thought hissing was air compressor

It is enough to send a chill down anyone's spine - a snake dangling from a fridge door, wrapped around the ice dispenser.

But that was the sight that recently confronted eastern Adelaide Hills resident Gail Auricht in the outdoor entertainment area of her family property outside Callington.

When she went to turn the radio off on Thursday evening, she heard a hissing noise, and assumed it was the air compressor.

When she heard the sound again, she was startled to see a red-bellied black snake on the front of her fridge.

"It had gone onto the water and ice outlet," Auricht said.

"It was just a bit surreal because I've not seen a snake hanging off the fridge before. It did take my breath away.

"As he turned himself around - he had to slide himself up to get his whole body through - he appeared to have become stuck."

Auricht said she was "shoulder-width" from the door and it was lucky she did not grab the handle to get a drink.

"I could only see the bottom half of the snake at first sighting, and it was using a lot of force because it was managing to pull the door which was setting the [fridge] alarm off," she said.

Auricht's husband rang her neighbours, who in turn phoned a local snake catcher.

"I sent my husband and daughters over there to help. Everyone went with shovels and gumboots," Auricht's friend Cherysse Richardson said.

"Nothing surprises me when it comes to a snake."

By Auricht's own admission, seeing the intruder gave her a bit of a "shake up" but she was determined to remain calm, keeping both her distance and an eye on the snake.

Catcher Simon Hempel quickly but carefully bagged the reptile when he arrived.

Hempel said while he has caught snakes in many "weird and wonderful" hiding places over the years, this job was "definitely different".

"I glanced over at the fridge and there was a snake hanging out," Hempel said.

"I've been doing it for 25 years - I've caught them under fridges but never up in the dispenser.

"That's very unusual. That will probably be the one and only, I would say. I don't think I'll ever get one in there again."

He said the operation to retrieve the snake - which was about 80 centimetres long - was "pretty quick", and the mood among the onlookers was one of "sheer relief".

While Hempel had "no idea how it got up there", he thought the snake may have been in search of prey.

"You know the little gap between the two doors? Maybe it's gotten up into that gap and used its body to wedge itself and then move up."

He said the current wave of hot weather, coming after recent heavy rain, meant his job was "getting busier" and snakes had "started to get on the move again".

"There was one in a car yesterday. A lady went to get out of her car, and the pillar that the hinges are on for your front door, she saw a black snake disappear into there. That would have been a bit scary," he said.

"I've caught them under kids' pillows, in roof spaces and in shoes, all sorts of spots. I've even caught them at my house inside my son's Xbox.

"When we get 35C days, it's flat out because the snakes don't like that hot weather and they're trying to get refuge in cool spots, and most of the time that happens to be people's houses."

A recent case in which a woman was bitten by a snake, believed to be a highly venomous eastern brown, while sleeping in her bed in Queensland has again highlighted the dangers posed by the animals.

Hempel said there were simple steps to keep them at bay.

"Keep doors closed - I did a couple yesterday where they were inside," he said.

"Don't try and do it yourself. In my videos, I probably make it look so easy, but I'm 52 and I've been catching snakes since I can remember.

"Keep dog bowls up off the ground, just high enough so the dogs can get their heads in and have a drink."

* This story was first published by theABC.