A crowd of at least 50 tourists were treated to quite the show after a travelling family made a surprising discovery hidden in the back of their ute.
The couple and their kids had spent the night at a campground in Nowra, on NSW’s south coast, and were heading back home to Sydney on Sunday when they decided to stop off at the Kiama Blowhole — joining hundreds of other keen spectators who flock to the spectacular natural attraction every weekend.
However, just moments after they hopped out of the car to take a look around, one of the children spotted something unusual dangling underneath their family’s vehicle — a chunky, and very lost, 1.5-metre red-bellied black snake.
“I darted down there and they just happened to be parked right next to the blowhole, so I was in prime location for everyone have a look,” Glen Peacock, who runs Illawarra Snake Catcher, told Yahoo News Australia.
A crowd of tourists surround snake catcher at iconic attraction
Video footage, which has racked up over 200,000 views online, shows a crowd of what Glen estimated to be more than 50 tourists watching on as he attempts to safely wrangle the highly venomous reptile out of the car.
“It was kind of lucky because the snake’s head was sticking out just below the back bumper there,” Glen said. Usually, when snakes work their way into vehicles, it can take hours to locate them, he explained.
“I couldn’t actually see the rest of him when I was lying on the ground looking up,” the snake catcher added.
“It wasn’t until I started tapping at the top of the panels where he was that I got him to move forward, and then he made a break for it along the underside of the car, to a point where I could reach his tail and grab him, and slowly work him out.”
The crowd of spectators erupted into cheers after Glen placed the snake into a bag. Source: Illawarra Snake Catcher
Stunned witnesses can be seen eagerly watching on as Glen takes a closer look at the reptile before placing it in a secure bag, which prompted the spectators to erupt into applause. “Well done, mate!” several people can be heard cheering.
“They got more than they bargained for — they came down to see the blowhole and got to see a show with it. So, yeah, it was quite exciting,” the snake catcher told Yahoo.
Several snakes found in cars as males emerge to mate
Although male snakes are typically on the move this time of year in search of females to mate with, Glen said he was “quite surprised” by the size of the red-belly.
“We’ve had a couple of big ones [lately]. In the last week, I think we’ve had four snakes in cars,” he said, noting the one that hitched a ride to Kiama likely crawled inside the vehicle while it was parked at the campground.
“I’m assuming it might have got spooked, or it went to hide in there, and then the car left before he had a chance to come out,” Glen, who returned the snake to its home 45 minutes away on Tuesday morning, explained.
Red-bellied black snakes are one of the most common snakes encountered on the east coast of Australia, and are responsible for a number of bites every year.
While a bite from the species can cause lifelong harm, including organ damage and altered taste sensation, its venom hasn’t killed a human in Australia for decades.
And while the snakes are generally shy, they will strike if provoked, with the health risks being far greater to children and pets than adult humans, due to their smaller size, according to the Australian Museum.
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