Aussie dad brings deadly snake home to show his kids
“If you see a snake or any reptile in the wild, admire it in its own habitat, take photos or a video, but please don’t try to capture it or take it home."
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An Aussie dad is “lucky to be alive” after he mistakenly captured a deadly snake with the intention of showing his kids later.
The unnamed dad was hiking with friends last week in the NSW Southern Highlands when he came across the venomous broad-headed snake, which he mistook for a non-venomous python, and decided to take it home.
Yahoo News reports the man “didn’t think anything of it” when the snake bit him, and he continued along the trail without seeking first aid.
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Hours after returning home, he was sent to the emergency department.
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"He's feeling very lucky"
“The hiker ended up in hospital after violently vomiting for three hours, and (with) a large swollen hand,” Southern Highlands Snake Catcher Ray McGibbon wrote on Facebook.
"After myself doing the trek and how long it took to walk in and back, the hiker was extremely lucky to make it out with no first aid."
“The hiker is feeling extremely lucky. It could have ended up a lot worse than it did.”
Mr McGibbon said medical staff contacted him for identification of the snake species, whose bites are potentially fatal.
“The broad-headed snake venom is neurotoxic,” he said.
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"Don't try to take it home"
Mr McGibbon later went to the dad’s house to collect the snake and return it to the area where he initially found it.
He warned others the man’s near-death experience should be one every Australian is mindful of.
“If you see a snake or any reptile in the wild, admire it in its own habitat, take photos or a video, but please don’t try to capture it or take it home,” he wrote.
It is illegal to take animals from their natural habitats in NSW, with people requiring a special permit from the NSW Department of Planning and Environment to do so.
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