Living in Australia, most of us will have crossed paths with some kind of dangerous and deadly animals during our lifetimes.
It usually happens when we least expect it, and how we react can truly determine whether we are able to get on with our day, or require a trip to the hospital.
Queensland snake catcher Drew Godfrey has seen a lot during his career, but what happened this week left him absolutely baffled.
The Hervey Bay local received a call from a couple at a holiday resort who told him that a snake had been sucked up into their vacuum.
Drew Godfrey said he was shocked at the situation. Picture: Facebook / Hervey Bay Snake Catchers
“Just when you think you’ve seen it all in this job, someone calls you and says their wife has sucked a snake up with the vacuum cleaner,” he said in a Facebook post.
The frightened couple had originally called Hervey Bay Snake Catchers because they needed help to remove the snake from their holiday unit.
But the man quickly called back and said “not to worry” as the wife had found a solution.
“He called back quickly saying not to worry because his wife had vacuumed it up,” Godfrey told Newsweek.
“I explained that they are protected species and it would be cruel and illegal to leave it in there.
“They understood and were happy for us to come out.”
Hervey Bay snake catchers were called out to the scene. Picture: Facebook
When he arrived at the house, the vacuum cleaner had been placed on the front veranda with a plastic bag around the nozzle to prevent anything from escaping.
“This is different,” Drew said as he walked onto the property.
In a video of the incident shared to Facebook, he can be seen carefully opening the vacuum cleaner and removing the extractor bag.
“I opened the bag that catches all the dust and it was inside there,” he explained.
“He is unharmed, just a little dusty and confused.”
The reptile was a newborn hatchling yellow-faced whip snake, a slender, fast-moving species that is often confused for the highly venomous eastern brown snake.
The snake is not considered dangerous to humans. Picture: Facebook / Hervey Bay Snake Catchers
This type of snake is common throughout Australia and can be distinguished by their grey-brown bodies and yellowish faces, from which they derive their name.
Although this species is venomous, they are not considered dangerous to humans, according to the Australian Museum.
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However, a bite could be extremely painful, with much local swelling.
Drew said that he had been bitten by this type of snake before, likening it to a “bee sting”.
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