Venomous snake found under car seat in Palmwoods on Sunshine Coast

A Queensland driver had a close call with an unwanted hitchhiker that was doing its best to hide out in a car before a snake catcher rushed to the rescue.

An unwanted hitchhiker in the form of one of the world’s most dangerous snakes has been found under a car seat.

A Palmwoods woman called snake catcher Daniel Busstra to safely remove a highly venomous snake yesterday, January 16.

The red-bellied black snake had hidden in her rear passenger footwell for an unknown amount of time.

The woman was about to jump into the car when her friend spotted a reptilian head poking out from the seat.

They immediately called the snake catcher, of Snake Catcher Dan, and he rushed to the scene.

“Sometimes finding a snake in a car can be very tricky but not this time,” he said.

“It was waiting for me when I opened up the passenger door.”

The car owner can be heard saying on the video saying “I had a client sitting right in that seat for three hours”.

She had no idea how the snake got in as the car was sealed, but told Mr Busstra it could have snuck into their bag from the dunes at the beach, hitched a ride home and been stuck there ever since.

Mr Busstra said red-bellied black snakes were “normally pretty shy and docile”.

“They like to be left alone, so it was scared stiff doing its best to avoid the driver,” he said.

However, he said it would have reacted aggressively in self defence if it was touched or brushed against accidentally, so the car owner had a lucky escape.

Mr Busstra said the small snake could be anywhere from two to three years old but said it was hard to estimate age as they grew at different rates depending on how much they ate.

His advice for anyone bitten by a snake is, “all bites should treated like it’s a super venomous snake, call triple-0, do first aid and bandages and get professional medical treatment”.

“Take it seriously,” he said.

The snake catcher said even non-venomous snake bites could create a nasty infection.

“Just avoid snakes and they’ll avoid you, don’t try to interfere or move them,” Mr Busstra said.

He said if a snake was in an awkward place, like a car, and needed to be moved, call a professional instead of risking a bite.