Deadly brown snake hitches 110 kilometre ride in driver's car
A Queensland driver found himself carpooling with an unwanted passenger this week after accidentally giving a 100 kilometre ride to a deadly eastern brown snake.
Thankfully, a "one in a million" encounter brought the driver into contact with David Voss of Gladstone Region Snake Catchers.
Mr Voss said he had just pulled into a shopping centre on Monday when he received a call from the frantic motorist.
When he found the car the snake catcher saw the large reptile on the front seat.
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The driver had given the snake a lift unknowingly 'for hours'. Gladstone Region Snake Catchers
"The car was in the car park of the same shopping complex, only 50 meters away from me," Mr Voss wrote on Facebook.
"To my surprise it was a decent size Eastern Brown.
Fate would have it that David Voss was in the same shopping centre car park. Gladstone Region Snake Catchers
"It would appear that the snake has travelled from Rockhampton to Gladstone with the the vehicle's owner and most likely inside the car's cabin.
Mr Voss said the snake was relatively unscathed. It was safely captured in a very delicate rescue.
"There was a little scale damage to its tail so it may have initially been in the engine bay," he added.
"I'm not a fan of catching Eastern Browns at night-time, and particularly from inside a car, but everything went well.
"The second deadliest snake on the planet travelling unnoticed in a car with you for a couple of hours."
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Snake catcher David Voss said the snake was in pretty good nick. It was captured and released. Gladstone Region Snake Catchers
The eastern brown snake's venom is deemed the world's second most deadly, after the Inland Taipan.
The encounter comes after a New South Wales snake catcher warned of a bumper snake season along the east coast, as wet weather provides perfect conditions for snakes' food source.
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Sean Cade, owner of Australian Snake Catchers, reported an increase in fat, venomous reptiles at the start of snake season back in October.
Mr Cade, owner of Australian Snake Catchers, removed an "extra-large" six foot eastern brown snake from a western Sydney home at the start of the month.
The massive brown snake was safely removed from a West Hoxton property in early October - the start of snake season. Australian Snake Catchers
Mr Cade estimated he removed more than a dozen five foot eastern brown snakes in the weeks following. Red-bellies are "probably double that".
Snake season normally starts around mid September and runs to March.
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