After trying to extract a tiny eastern brown snake out of her dog’s mouth, a woman got bitten on the thumb and had to spend the night in the hospital.
The bite was particularly concerning since, due to their lack of control over the quantity of venom they release, baby snakes are actually more poisonous than adult snakes.
The Queensland family contacted Stuart McKenzie of Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers after they were unsure what species of snake had bitten them.
After showing Mr McKenzie a photo of the snake, he recognized exactly what they were up against.
The family initially thought it may have been a green tree snake, it turned out to be a baby eastern brown snake, the second most venomous land snake in the world.
‘Yeah, it’s 100 per cent an eastern brown snake,’ Mr McKenzie said.
In the video, he can been seen instructing the man to call an ambulance, put a pressure bandage on the bitten limb and keep the patient calm.
Mr McKenzie arrived within 15 minutes and the ambulance was already there treating the woman inside.
The snake was then safely placed into a cotton snake catcher’s bag and taken away to the wildlife hospital to receive its own treatment for a puncture wound.
The woman was taken to hospital and kept in overnight whilst they took several blood test and monitored her condition.
All of the tests came back clear and she was released the following morning.
Mr McKenzie issued a warning to people to be cautious around snakes and said he hoped that everyone could learn something from the woman’s experience.