Venomous Snake Found at Child Care Center, Caught with Bare Hands

The red-bellied black snake, found "curled up" under equipment, was estimated to be 4 feet long

Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers/Facebook

At an Australian daycare, a large, venomous snake found lurking near the play area was caught by a snake wrangler with only a bag and his bare hands.

The man, an employee at Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers, was called to the "busy" child care center after the venomous critter was spotted lurking among play equipment. The wildlife professional documented the encounter in a Facebook video on Tuesday, Oct. 15.

After arriving at the center, he found the red-bellied black snake — which he later estimated to be about 4 feet long — "curled up" underneath a stack of plastic tiles near an area often populated with playing children.

"Hence why we're here, 'cause obviously, it's not a great spot for the red-bellied," he explains in the clip. "I'm sure the red-bellied's happy, but I mean, being around the kids."

In the video, the wrangler attempts to scoop the snake from behind the tiles. "He's on to me now," he says of the reptile, searching for its head as it slithers.

Despite the hooked metal tool he brought to capture the creature, the snake catcher uses his bare hands to pick up the snake, grabbing the reptile's tail and getting it away from the equipment pile to nearby turf.

After some struggle, he then collects the snake by dropping it into a large bag.

"You can hear the kids in the background," the catcher notes in the clip of the whooping sound throughout the video.

"Quite a crazy spot," he adds after the critter was placed safely in a bag.

In the final piece of footage, the snake is brought to a wooded area far from the child care center and released. "See you, mate," the snake catcher says as the reptile slithers off into the forest.

In the comments of the Facebook video, several people praised the snake wrangler for how he handled the snake and the situation, including one woman who stated that her sons witnessed the encounter.

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"This is right outside my boys' room, where they play all the time," she commented. "Fabulous centre and excellent educators - they're always doing snake checks (I'm paranoid about snakes so asked a ton of questions about it early) and they turned this into an educational piece which my boys brought home telling me what they need to do if they see a snake."

"Well done amazing team 👏👏👏 ❤️🙏✨️," she finished.

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Red-bellied black snakes like the one removed from the center are "one of the most frequently encountered snakes on the east coast of Australia," according to the Australian Museum.

"They are a shy snake and will generally only deliver a serious bite under severe molestation," the museum states. If bitten, symptoms can include vomiting, headache, abdominal pain and more.

For its size, the species is "probably the least dangerous elapid snake in Australia," the museum notes. "Despite the number of bites received every year, very few human deaths have resulted," it states, noting that health risks to both children and pets are more significant because of their size.