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Meanwhile In Australia: Highly Venomous Snake Found In Car’s Armrest, Slithers Onto Passenger

By Sally Elliott
Published on: 17:28 PST, Mar 11, 2016

A man and a woman were taken by surprise when a highly venomous snake was found in their car’s armrest in Australia as they drove to work in the country’s southern state. The snake then proceeded to slither onto the passenger from the car’s armrest, forcing the two to stop the car immediately and extricate the venomous critter without suffering a bite. Red-bellied black snake bites are highly venomous and incredibly painful, sometimes even fatal. And if not fatal, they can cause severe complications to health.

Ironically — and luckily — the man who found the snake in the armrest, as well as the driver, were pest-handling professionals from Snake Catchers Adelaide on their way to a “snake job” in Middleton when something scaly slithered past the passenger’s arm, Nine News reports.

Snake Catchers Adelaide posted about the incident on Facebook early this morning when the snake was found in the car armrest by two of its employees (warning: this video contains multiple profanities).

https://www.facebook.com/SnakeCatchersAdelaide/videos/952041254886396/

The Australian Museum explains the severe effects of red-bellied black snake bites.

“The [red-bellied black snake’s] venom has predominantly anticoagulant and myotoxic effects, and symptoms of envenomation include bleeding and/or swelling at the bite site, nausea, vomiting, headache, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, sweating, local or general muscle pain and weakness.”

Australian wildlife is not all 'snake in car armrest' - Kangaroos are a beloved favorite (though perhaps not of the farmers whose crops they devour). (Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty Images)
Australian wildlife is not all ‘snake in car armrest’ – Kangaroos are a beloved favorite (though perhaps not of the farmers whose crops they devour). (Photo by Ian Waldie/Getty Images)

For those with any exposure to the goings-on in Australia by first-hand experience or the world wide web, the phrase “Meanwhile In Australia” will register as an obvious precursor to stories in which this snake, that crocodile or those spiders assail unsuspecting people with terrifying confrontations.

Australia's outback is host to terrifying confrontations with wildlife, but also the home of the nation's first Indigenous All-Stars rugby team, which visited Yuendumu last year, where blossoming future sports stars were found on the desert plains, and a snake was not found in a car. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)
Australia’s outback is host to terrifying confrontations with wildlife, but also the home of the nation’s first Indigenous All-Stars rugby team, which visited Yuendumu last year, where blossoming future sports stars were found on the desert plains, and a snake was not found in a car. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

The Inquisitr reported in January that Australian “mega sharks” have inspired fear around the world, especially considering the increased number of shark attacks — and resulting deaths — on the nation’s east coast over the last two years.

It’s not so long ago that a snake was found in shallow creek waters in Queensland, Australia, beginning an epic five-hour battle to eat a crocodile. The snake was eventually victorious.

Snake Catchers Adelaide has had a wealth of first-hand experience with venomous snakes found both in car armrests and in households, where snakes find warm, dry hideaways in which to lay their eggs — preferably more spacious than a car armrest. One heavily pregnant venomous snake was found under one family’s fridge earlier this year, pictured below.

Australia is host to some of the scariest animals — its wildlife rich in snakes, spiders, and sharks — but also some of the sweetest. Some cyclists recently met a koala, a furry native of the southern land, which climbed up for a drink of water.

In light of the dangerous snake found in a car armrest in Australia and other incidents like it, the public are again reminded of the importance of dealing appropriately and immediately with the country’s poisonous animals. Earlier this year, a 9-year-old girl died after being bitten by a brown snake, one of the world’s most venomous snakes, having not received treatment quickly enough.

[Photo by Lakeview Images/Shutterstock]

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