World’s second most deadly snake bites woman pulling it from her dog’s mouth

A woman was left lucky to be alive after removing the second most deadly snake from the mouth of her pet dog.

The Australian female believed she was handling a green tree snake, but it was in fact a venomous eastern brown.

Queensland snake catcher Stuart McKenzie received the call last Tuesday (May 24) to identify the animal, which bit the woman on a hand while trying to save her Jack Russell.

“As soon as they described it, I was just thinking to myself, ‘that’s not a tree snake’,” said McKenzie.

“They believed it to be a tree snake, but wanted to send me a photo to confirm. At that time, I said straightaway ‘let’s not take any risks and put a bandage on her arm and call an ambulance.'”

While both dog and owner survived in this instance, people should not underestimate the venom of a baby snake.

“It can certainly give you a dose of venom which will kill you,” added McKenzie.

The woman was taken to hospital and will make a full recovery, but McKenzie urged people to never touch snakes they can’t identify, even to save a pet.

“If the snake is in the dog’s mouth, it’s probably already been bitten, so there’s no point a human going in and getting bitten as well. It’s too risky,” he said.

McKenzie added that while eastern brown snakes can “dry bite” and not envenomate its victim, it is best to assume the worst.

“You don’t want to just take those odds and just presume that it’s a dry bite because the time that you presume that, is probably the time that it wasn’t,” he said.

“The best bet is just to treat it as if it’s a highly venomous snake, bandage limb, stay still and call an ambulance.”

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