Venomous pygmy copperhead snake found among toys in Upper Sturt home
A pregnant Adelaide mother and her two-year-old toddler got a big fright when the tot discovered a venomous pygmy copperhead slithering among his toys.
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An Adelaide family got quite a terrifying surprise when they discovered a deadly Pygmy Copperhead near the toy box.
The discovery was made on Monday afternoon when a mother and her two-year-old child went to play with the main living area of their Upper Sturt home.
Adelaide Snake Catchers Steve Brown said the mother, who is eight months pregnant, and toddler made the discovery on Monday.
“She was very distressed, slammed the door and went and sat in the car and called her mother-in-law who called us,” Mr Brown said.
He said the pygmy copperhead was quite rare and found in Upper Sturt, Stirling and Mt Lofty.
“They are found in the foothills and for every 200 brown snakes we catch, there’d be one copperhead.”
Snake Catchers Adelaide owner Rolly Burrell said the snake was “extremely venomous”.
“The kid went to play and found him among the toys.”
“Snake season has started about six weeks earlier than usual — we probably started getting calls from about August 25 this year.”
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Copperheads tend to avoid human encounters.
Its venom is neurotoxic, haemolytic and cytotoxic, which means it attacks the nervous system and blood cells.
They are a smaller snake only growing to around 50cm in length and mainly a dull dark olive grey colour and even brown.
Their bite is considered dangerous to humans and pets and immediate action is required to reduce the chance of injury, even death.
Once caught, snakes are re-released in remote areas away from people.
