Cat Carries Venomous Snake Inside Family’s Home & Leaves It Under Christmas Tree
on Dec 21, 2022
Darling Downs Snake Catchers 24/7 posted a few photos on Facebook showing a venomous snake that had to be removed from a pile of presents that were laying under a Christmas tree in an Australian family’s home.
Gunter Glaser with Darling Downs Snake Catchers shared the photos saying that he got the call from the family living in the city of Hampton saying that a Red Bellied Black snake was in their home and that a cat had actually brought the reptile inside.
The cat had apparently brought the snake in from outside and dropped it under their tree earlier in the week and they had found out about it later.
Photos showed the reptile laying between the presents curled up in a ball as well as another photo of Gunter holding the live snake in his hand that was protected by a snake-proof glove.
Gunter told 9news.com.au that the snake was only 60 centimeters (23 inches) long so it was relatively small compared to the average Red Bellied Black snake which is around 1.25 meters (4 feet).
Gunter also said that the snake and the cat were both miraculously unharmed during the incident.
“The cat wasn’t bitten and quite proud of itself,” he said. “Thankfully, the snake had no negative effect from the cat carrying it.”
He told the news outlet that he relocated the snake to a bushland beside a creek.
“The family are snake lovers, but didn’t want to touch it,” he said. “It was an unexpected Christmas present.”
Wildlife experts say that there have not been any recorded deaths from red-bellied black snakes in Australia, however, they are still considered venomous and dangerous for humans to be handling.
If bitten by one of these reptiles, the symptoms would include bleeding or swelling around the area of the bite. Its bite could also cause nausea, vomiting, headache, abdominal pain, diarrhea, sweating, cause red-brown colored urine, and one could experience general muscle pain or weakness.
Gunter said that when people are bitten, they sometimes don’t even realize they have been bitten because there is no pain from the bite.
He said that he was actually bitten by the notorious venomous eastern brown snake just last month and had to be rushed to the hospital.
He noted that most encounters with snakes happen during snake season which typically runs from September through April.
