Couple has venomous snake slither across feet while driving

Aug. 16 (UPI) -- A couple in Australia got quite the scare when an unwanted visitor slithered across their feet while driving: a venomous red-bellied black snake.

The incident occurred along the Bruce Highway in Queensland, along the country's eastern coastline.

The footage of the snake came courtesy of a Facebook post from Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers, specialists who were called in to remove the 3.5-foot snake from the couple's camper van after it made the unscheduled appearance.

"We just had a frantic call for a couple with a forward driving caravan, who were driving along, and they had a bloody red-bellied black snake in their car!" the snake catcher says in the video. "Not in their engine bay, not in the front or the windscreen, in their car while they're driving."

The snake is seen laying in the car along the driver's side, and the snake catchers can then be seen using a special hook to remove the snake, eventually capturing it in a bag.

The snake catcher is then seen releasing the snake back into the forest.

"Yes you read that correctly, this is hands down one of the craziest jobs we have ever had!" the snake catchers wrote on Facebook. "It was a tough one to catch as well as I didn't want to have my back facing the highway and had grab the snake and lift it over the front seats without getting bitten!"

"There were a couple of close calls but hey got the job done!"

Indigenous to Australia, the red-bellied black snake is one of the most commonly found species of snake in the country, according to the Australian Museum.

The serpents are responsible for numerous bites throughout Australia every year, according to the museum.

Red-bellied black snake venom can cause "anticoagulant and myotoxic effects," including "bleeding and/or swelling at the bite site, nausea, vomiting, headache, abdominal pain" and more in extreme cases.

Despite this, the museum reiterated that very few deaths have ever been recorded from the red-bellied black snake, and that, "for its size, the red-bellied black snake is probably the least dangerous elapid snake in Australia."

While there is a risk of serious illness, most bite victims only experience mild symptoms, though officials reiterated that anyone who is bitten should seek treatment immediately.

This is not the first time that a reptile has been found in a precarious situation.

In the United States, police officers in Cibolo, Texas, were called last week when a 10-foot-long python was found under someone's car.

This snake, though, turned out to be a pet, which was soon reunited with its owners after being turned over to wildlife control.

Another escaped python, also a pet, was found in a neighbor's garden in Bozeman, Mont., having escaped the same day that her owner moved out of her home.

"We relocated her to a different enclosure for the day," the owner said. "It's one thing when your dog is missing, but when your snake -- which is longer than you are -- goes missing you wonder, what are people going to do when they see her."

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