Blewitt Springs woman finds deadly snake on car dashboard

A southern suburbs woman has had a frightening close call with a venomous snake that she believes had been living in her car – unnoticed – for a fortnight.

A Blewitt Springs woman has come face-to-face with a deadly snake after she found it sunbaking on the dashboard of her car – where it may have been living for weeks.

When Shelley Bridge hopped into her Mazda CX7 on Tuesday morning and put her hands on the steering wheel, a red-bellied black snake reared its head just centimetres away.

A trip to meet her parents at the Christies Beach Bowling Club was quickly put on hold as she swiftly jumped out of the vehicle and slammed the door.

“It was 10cm away from my hands... I said a few expletives,” Ms Bridge said.

While she said it caught her off guard, it wasn’t a complete surprise. On reflection, Ms Bridge said she was now certain the reptile had been living in her car for at least two weeks.

“I park my car up next to my house on our rural property and we actually saw a snake drop from the car two weeks ago. I thought it was outside the car,” she said.

A snake gave Blewitt Springs woman Shelley Bridge one hell of a fright when she hopped into her car on Tuesday. Picture: Supplied

She believes the young red-bellied black snake had been living in the car for two weeks. Picture: Supplied

“I’ve had passengers and dogs in the car since and it never popped up over that period.”

She called snake catcher ‘Pete’ on Tuesday, but by the time he had arrived the snake had concealed itself within the vehicle once again.

When Pete found a snakeskin in the spare wheel compartment of the boot, it all but confirmed the snake had made itself at home.

But after searching for an hour and a half, Pete was unable to find the slippery creature.

“I didn’t drive it for a couple of days and on Thursday morning at about 10am I found it sunbaking on the dash again, so I quickly called Pete,” she said.

“He just jumped in the car, grabbed it by the tail with no gloves and out came ‘Sydney’ the snake.”

She was relieved the ordeal was over, but admitted she was still experiencing some paranoia.

“I’ve been doing some double checking when I get in now,” she said.

“Pete assured me the snake was a juvenile and too young to give birth, which put my mind at ease.”

Ms Bridge said it was the first time she had seen a snake close to her home in over 10 years.