Spring is their most enjoyable season, according to local snake wrangler Jake Hansen, and a plump juicy frog, or perhaps a few smaller models, are just the ticket for a copperhead emerging from a long period of lethargy.

Hansen was called out on Saturday to a property near Gosling Creek where a copperhead had been bailed up in a backyard by two barking dogs.

"If you're going to have a venomous snake that's our most common, probably the copperhead would be the best one of the bunch," said Mr Hansen. "They're very placid, very laid back. But they do get riled up if you interfere with them."

Fortunately the pooches had chosen to create a carry-on rather than approach.

"It very much depends on the dog and its personality and temperament," said Mr Hansen. "Some dogs don't care about a snake, they'll watch it slither past; others will attack; others will try and play with them; and some will stand off and bounce around and bark at them."

He said Jack Russells and Staffordshire Bull Terriers were among the dogs more likely to want to get involved with the snake.

The copperheads will dine on lizards and - gulp - other snakes, but the frog is its favourite meal.

"They have a very sophisticated sense of smell, they smell in stereo," said Mr Hansen. "That's their most acute sense and that's why they flick their tongues constantly, they use that to smell out prey. With all the wet weather frogs have been breeding, there are lots of frogs about, and there'll be lots of fat snakes."

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