{"id":328133,"date":"2025-12-04T22:36:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T22:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/328133\/"},"modified":"2025-12-04T22:36:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T22:36:10","slug":"mums-photo-of-danger-hiding-in-plain-sight-highlights-common-aussie-misconception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/328133\/","title":{"rendered":"Mum’s photo of danger hiding in plain sight highlights common Aussie misconception"},"content":{"rendered":"

At first glance, it’s a cute photo of siblings walking hand-in-hand down a bush track in Victoria’s northeast. But on closer inspection, there’s a hard-to-spot danger<\/a> lying in their path.<\/p>\n

The kids were walking on the dirt road in Eskdale when their mum snapped a photo of their adventures. It wasn’t until the following day that she looked at the images and noticed a large eastern brown snake<\/a> on the road, just centimetres from her son’s foot.<\/p>\n

“She looked at the photos and then realised that the kids were right next to a snake,” Snake Catcher Victoria<\/a> Barry Goldsmith told Yahoo News.<\/p>\n

The mum also walked right past the snake herself without realising.<\/p>\n

While the photo was taken back in 2019, and published worldwide<\/a>, Barry reshared the images to his Facebook page this week. He said the photos served as a reminder for people to act sensibly and remain alert while out in nature.<\/p>\n

Do you have a story? Contact newsroomau@yahoonews.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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“Generally speaking, they\u2019ll move off when they see you coming, but this one obviously wasn\u2019t too worried about it,” he said.<\/p>\n

Barry said it is important for people to remain calm and respect our native wildlife.<\/p>\n

\u201cSnakes don\u2019t attack people, no one has ever been attacked by a snake. The snake\u2019s always defending itself.<\/p>\n

“They\u2019re not really aggressive animals. All they’ve got is an instinct to fight or flight, so they don’t want to have anything to do with us.<\/p>\n

“They’re certainly not going to lie on the grass and wait for us to walk past and then jump out and bite us for no reason,” he said.<\/p>\n

Barry gave a tick of approval to the kids\u2019 outfits, saying long pants are an extra bit of protection when hiking in bushland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIdeally, the proper footwear and long pants is a good idea. And educating the kids to look around,” he said.<\/p>\n

What to do if you see a snake this summer<\/p>\n

As many of us head outdoors to enjoy the warmer weather, it\u2019s likely there\u2019ll be snakes about.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re lucky enough to see one, Barry said to give it a wide berth of two to three metres or just wait until it moves along.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re walking in the bush, you’re probably expecting to see some animals anyway. They can\u2019t all be cute and fluffy!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Venom from an eastern brown is potent and causes progressive paralysis and uncontrollable bleeding.<\/p>\n

Eastern browns have caused more deaths from snake bite than any other species in Australia, according to the Australian Museum<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The museum notes that many of the deaths were a \u201cdirect result\u201d of people trying to kill the snakes and could\u2019ve easily been avoided.<\/p>\n

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can also follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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