After a long day, there’s no better feeling than sitting down to relax on the couch – unless, of course, there’s a 4-foot venomous snake already lounging there. For a family in Australia, this nightmare was made real when they discovered a deadly eastern brown snake curled up on their furniture.
As the family arrived home, they ventured into the living room to unwind, only to find an unwanted visitor had made itself at home, the large snake sprawled out on their couch cushions. Spotting the returning humans, the snake slithered for cover, hiding underneath the furniture.
Knowing better than to attempt to handle a highly venomous snake, the family contacted professional snake catcher Ozzie (Glenn) Lawrence, owner of OzCapture Snake Relocations. Upon his arrival, Lawrence expected a relatively simple removal. The cunning snake, however, had hidden itself so well among the furniture that he had to search inside the couch rather than just behind it.
“I couldn’t find it [at first],” Lawrence told Newsweek. “I had to search through the loungeroom. They knew it had gone underneath the couches, and I found it behind a leather flap at the back of the twin couch in the middle.”
Snake Catcher Safely Removes Eastern Brown From Couch
The reptile wrangler explained that the snake had somehow found its way underneath a velcro leather covering. Once inside the couch, it wound itself into the reclining mechanism, making for a tricky removal.
While holding the velcro cover with one hand, Lawrence patiently waited for the snake to turn away from him. He then grabbed it by the tail and wrenched it from the couch. Luckily, the typically jumpy snake was a little sluggish from the relatively cool weather, allowing the snake catcher to remove it without incident.
“All things considered it was actually quite calm and cool,” he said. “It wasn’t a very hot day, so his batteries weren’t full so to speak, so he wasn’t striking and biting.”
After freeing it from the couch, Lawrence noted that the venomous snake was roughly 4.5 feet in length, a perfectly average size for an eastern brown.
Reptile Wrangler Warns Against Handling Venomous Snakes
Though dwarfed by some of the world’s more notorious species, such as cobras and pythons, eastern brown snakes pack a punch in terms of venom.
Capable of killing an adult human in half an hour with a single bite, the eastern brown possesses the second-most toxic venom in the world and is responsible for the majority of snakebite deaths in Australia. Their bites typically cause no initial pain or discomfort. As such, victims often don’t realize they’ve suffered a potentially fatal injury until symptoms begin to set in.
Due to human expansion, the venomous snakes’ natural habitat overlaps with some of Australia’s most populated areas. As a result, it’s not uncommon for people to find them lurking inside their homes.
“There are so many different ways that a snake can potentially get into your home,” Lawrence said. “It’s just their natural behavior and curiosity, looking for food.”
Lawrence’s best piece of advice, should you ever find a venomous snake inside your home? Don’t touch or provoke it, call a professional immediately, and “don’t take your eyes off it until a snake catcher gets there.”
