Father Rescues Family from Venomous Snake in Car

First, his wife called him on the phone. Then he heard her yell as she began calling "snake, snake". When father-of-four Samuel bravely opened the car door to investigate, he was surprised by what he found.

"She was screaming... Obviously, I was expecting it to be a lot bigger. When I moved in close, it looked like a python," he told Yahoo News. "Then I thought, wait a minute, the way it was arching up, hissing, and attacking, that's not a python."

Samuel was correct, it was something far more dangerous than a python. Worryingly, he had considered attempting to pick it up, but fortunately, he reconsidered.

According to one snake expert, this hesitation potentially saved Samuel from a trip to the hospital, or worse. "It's not an exaggeration to say it could have been a matter of life and death," explained Chris Williams from Urban Reptile Removal to Yahoo News.

Samuel's wife had reason to fear. The creature she discovered inside her car was a baby eastern brown snake, which is the second most venomous land snake in the world. In 2024, an Aussie dad died after attempting to remove one from a childcare centre.

Juvenile eastern browns can look quite different from the deep-brown adult form that most Australians encounter. However, they are just as dangerous.

"They're striped, and they've got this demure little head, so you'd think butter wouldn't melt in their mouth. But they can certainly pack a punch," Chris said.

He also noted, "A baby snake would be very scared of the big, bad world out there. When you're half a centimetre tall, everything looks frightening."

Eastern brown snakes are known to be highly defensive, which is often mistaken for aggression. They are unlikely to bite a human unless they feel threatened.

Research by Monash University indicates that 75 per cent of snake bite victims are men, with a median age of 46.5. However, deaths from snake bites in Australia are quite rare. An audit by the National Coronial Information Service found that between 2000 and 2016, snakes killed 35 people, with eastern browns responsible for 23 of those fatalities.

Sam is warning other parents to be cautious and refrain from taking matters into their own hands if they spot a snake in their backyard. Ignoring this advice could put both the residents and the snake at risk.

Eastern browns began hatching around Sydney this week, prompting snake catchers in the city to respond to numerous calls.

Although Sam has experience handling pet pythons and felt comfortable coaxing the eastern brown into a bucket, this practice is not recommended by experts.

He ultimately made the right decision by calling a professional snake catcher for assistance, focusing on the safe removal and relocation of the snake away from residential areas.

"I thought if it took off, there are a lot of kids in the street, and if it bit someone on the toe or something it would be a disaster," he remarked.