An Aussie truck driver was left feeling immensely “disappointed” after spotting a littered can on the side of the road with something truly heartbreaking inside. Sixty-three-year-old Doug was on his way to the depot in Maitland, near Newcastle in NSW, when he saw something long, black and shiny sticking out of a Woodstock Bourbon and Cola can.
“I was at the intersection, waiting to turn right, and saw something wriggling inside the can. I did a U-turn and tried to turn back,” he told Yahoo News Australia.
What Doug had spotted was a chunky red-bellied black snake that had slithered inside the discarded can. When he called his mates and asked what to do, they told him to kill it, which left him even more unsettled.
All native snakes are protected in Australia, and harming them is not only cruel and illegal, but attacking them also increases your chances of getting bitten. A 2017 study on deaths from bites in Australia found 75 per cent of the victims were men, and a fifth occurred when people tried to handle them.
Taking matters into his own hands, Doug unadvisedly picked up the can. “I tried to get it out the can myself, but there was a lot of him inside of it,” he recalled.
Luckily he was unsuccessful, because a bite from a red-belly can leave victims with lifelong medical complications. Not only can the toxins harm organs, many people report having their sense of smell and taste diminished or altered.
Horrific smell begins to waft from inside can
Doug put the snake in a shopping bag and rushed it to a vet. But sadly the reptile’s injuries proved quite extensive. East Maitland Vet confirmed with Yahoo News that at least half of the snake was curled up inside. It had extensive lacerations and had become necrotic, causing a horrific stench, and the only option was to euthanise.
Reptiles getting stuck inside cans is not uncommon as you can see below:
The situation typically occurs when snakes search for prey or shelter and then become trapped inside the can.
As the weather starts to heat up, a thoughtless act of littering act can easily lead to a painful death for wildlife like snakes who are now increasingly on the move.
“First of all you’ve got to be a d***head to throw rubbish out the window,” Doug said. “And two, you’re throwing money away,” he added, referencing the state’s Return and Earn scheme that pays drinkers 10 cents for every can they return for recycling.
Anyone who finds an injured snake is urged not to touch it, and instead call a licensed reptile handler or volunteer wildlife rescuer.
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