A deadly snake in a lunchbox surprised an Australian mother, who found the venomous brown snake Monday.
Scared, the mother called Rolly Burrell, a local snake catcher, who reported the story on the company's Facebook page, Newsweek reported. Burrell told the mom to close the snake inside the lunchbox and take it outside, where he retrieved it and removed it from the lunchbox safely.
The snake may have been small, but still had the same dangerous venom of the larger adult snake, Burrell said, Newsweek reported. Since 2000, 23 of the 35 fatalities from snakebites reported in Australia were brown snakes. Unlike many snakes, brown snakes are active during the day, so people may be more likely to encounter them.
"It's very lucky that she spotted the snake," Burrell told the BBC. "A little kid would not even feel the bite from something so small."
Burrell also said that it is a common time for brown snakes to hatch, but that the company is getting more calls than usual — about 50 to 60 a day — for baby brown snakes this year in the Adelaide area in Southern Australia, Newsweek reported.
In some cases, the mother snake is also nearby, Burrell said, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported. In another recent incident, a baby brown snake was found under a quilt after the cat brought it inside and dropped it.
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