A deadly black mamba slithered underneath a family’s Christmas tree in Queensburgh, South Africa.
The six-and-a-half foot snake was exploring the festive arrangement before it curled up to hide behind a speaker at the tree’s base.
‘Santa left me an early Christmas present,’ snake catcher Nick Evans said in a Facebook post about the incident. It isn’t the first time a snake has found its way into a holiday scene.
A deadly black mamba slithered underneath a family’s Christmas tree in Queensburgh, South Africa
‘I do wish it had waited for me on the tree. That would have made for some cool photos!’
Black mambas are some of the most dangerous snakes known to man.
Just one bite releases a quick-acting neurotoxin that can kill a human in 20 minutes by shutting down their nervous system.
The snakes are native to Africa and can be found in rockier areas or open woodlands.
Unfortunately, sometimes the snakes find their way into more residential areas in search of food – such as rats or feral kittens.
This particular snake made its way inside after being noticed by a worker at the house.
‘Well, actually, the snake was outside when it was disturbed by the gardener. It then moved away from him, out of fear, saw the open door, and ducked inside,’ Evans said.
Evans proceeded to pick it up with tongs from where it was hiding under the tree – before pinning it down.
‘The family were rather shocked as you can imagine,’ Evans said.
Black mamba snakes are native to Africa and can be found in rockier areas or open woodlands
‘It’s one of the more amusing places I’ve found a mamba. I’m sure many of you reading this have thought of jokes about this scenario.’
Some of the commenters underneath his Facebook post were not amused.
‘Not what anyone wants in their Christmas tree, wow,’ one wrote.
‘Christmas would be cancelled after this,’ wrote another.
‘Wow, what a beauty, too bad you did not take a picture of it on the wall, you could have named it “snake on the shelf”!!’ another user joked.
Meanwhile, a family in Queensland, Australia received an unwelcome visitor earlier this week in the form of a red-bellied snake that their cat dropped between presents under their Christmas tree.
Gunter Glasser of Darling Downs Snake Catchers said he was called out to the property in Hampton, west of Brisbane, to capture the snake.
The snake catcher told 9News the slithery specimen was small, almost two feet in length.
‘The cat wasn’t bitten and quite proud of itself,’ Glasser said. ‘The family are snake lovers but didn’t want to touch it.
‘It was an unexpected Christmas present,’ he added.
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