A Queensland mother got a big surprise when she discovered a highly venomous red-bellied black snake hidden in her daughter’s toy box.
The mother and daughter were choosing toys to play with at their home in Maroochydore, on the Sunshine Coast, when they made the terrifying discovery.
The worried mother called immediately Sunshine Coast Snake Catcherswho urgently removed the snake from the house.
Stuart McKenzie, who runs the snake-catching service, said it was one of his “wildest” jobs yet.
The “very large” snake (pictured) was found hiding among the boy’s dolls and toys at his Sunshine Coast home.
“There is a highly venomous snake inside children’s toys, it’s not a situation you want to be in, that’s for sure,” he said.
McKenzie used a hook to dig into the basket before finding the coiled snake at the bottom.
He said it was very lucky that none of the family members were bitten by the huge snake.
“It sends a chill down your spine,” he said. “Look at the size of this bastard,” she said.
The snake was about three or four fingers thick and extremely healthy, McKenzie said.
Stuart McKenzie (pictured), who runs the snake trapping service, said it was one of his “wildest” jobs yet.
After catching the snake, he released it back into the wild.
Red-bellied black snakes are common throughout eastern Australia.
While snakes are usually secretive, if provoked, they can deliver a fatal bite with their venom, causing bleeding, swelling, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, sweating, muscle pain and weakness.
An untreated bite can be fatal.
Thousands of Australians were shocked by the discovery.
“I would like my entire house to be inspected. Can you imagine trying to sleep tonight?” one said.
Another added: “What bothers me the most is how long was that snake in the kids’ room before they noticed?”
A third said: ‘OMG how come they don’t bite a child? I’m a grandmother of a three-year-old and the kids just dive into the toy box.’
