A New South Wales, Australia, man called for help when a venomous tiger snake slithered across his foot while he was a passenger in his car.
Tanny Parsons said he was riding in the passenger seat of his car while a friend drove on the far south coast of New South Wales when he felt something touch his bare foot.
“I felt something on my feet, I looked down and this large snake was just across my feet,” Parsons told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “I just yelled out to my friend to stop the car, get the dog and jump out. It gave me a hell of a fright.”
Parsons said his car had been sitting idle in the driveway of his Tilba Tilba home for about six weeks while he was visiting family prior to the incident.
He contacted VRA Rescue NSW in Narooma, which dispatched Malcolm Barry and his daughter, Sarah, to the scene. Both family members are trained snake handlers.
They were able to remove the serpent, identified as a 5-foot tiger snake, from the car. Tiger snakes are highly venomous and have been known to become aggressive in the wild.
“We’ve pulled snakes out of homes and hidden behind furniture, but it’s our first car,” Barry said. “It wasn’t a close call, there was no hint of the snake biting, it was actually a pretty easy catch.”
Barry said the snake likely entered the car while pursuing some rats during the time the vehicle was out of use.
