Man’s hands just inches from one of world’s deadliest snakes

A man had his hands just inches from the head of one of the world’s deadliest snakes at his home just north of Brisbane, after the deadly reptile slithered out of his sink.

This juvenile eastern brown snake gave a homeowner a fright when he went to wash his hands. Photo: Steven Brown, Brisbane North Snake Catchers and Relocation

Michael Hilliard was about to wash his hands in a sink outside his home at Draper, just north of Brisbane, when his hands came within inches of a deadly reptile.

He was just about to pull the plug out and “this little snakey’s head was popping out” about 4-5 inches from his hands.

“I thought ‘ohh, I don’t like the look of that’,” he said.

“It doesn’t look like the usual ones we have, keelbacks and things like that.”

He said to his wife Lucy: “This is a brown, I’m not touching this one.”

He sent photos to snake catcher Steven Brown who confirmed it was a juvenile eastern brown.

The snake unsuccessfully tried to escape from the stainless steel sink and retreated into the drain hole when Mr Brown arrived.

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He took the trap off but the snake disappeared into the dishwasher outlet. The dishwasher had to be filled and the water released to flush it out.

Mr Hilliard said he got a pretty big fright initially, but the feeling was worse when he realised what it was.

“It was a pretty close thing really. Steve said the juveniles lash out at you,” Mr Hilliard said.

“All he had to do was make a quick go at me and I think he would have had me.”

The juvenile eastern brown snake found in a sink at Draper. Photo: Steven Brown, Brisbane North Snake Catchers and Relocation

Mr Brown, from Brisbane North Snake Catchers and Relocation, said juvenile eastern browns had the same deadly venom as fully-grown snakes, the second most potent of land snakes.

Making matters worse, he said, they were more inclined to strike than adult snakes as they were more “scared and defensive, being in a new world”.

For information on how to treat a snake bite, see this advice from Queensland Health.