An Australian nurse's incredibly lucky escape after posing with a 'cute' creature on a beach

An Australian nurse is lucky to be alive after playing with a 'cute' snake that turned out to be highly venomous while on holiday on a tropical island.

In 2017, Suzanne Parrish was on holiday with her partner in New Caledonia, an island in the Pacific Ocean 2,000 km from Sydney.

They saw the 'apparently cute snake' on the beach and decided to stop and pick it up.

They took photos of the chilling encounter and Ms Parrish said she even kissed the reptile.

It wasn't until she visited a local museum that she discovered that the snake she had posed with was a highly venomous sea krait.

It wasn't until she visited a local museum that she discovered that the snake she had posed with was a highly venomous sea krait.

She posted the photos of her encounter on Facebook and warned travelers not to make the same mistake she did.

“I joined the (Facebook) group for funny posts a while ago and realized I had something relatable to share,” she said.

Veterinarian Belinda Donovan from Australia Seabird and Turtle Rescue said sea snakes were generally much more venomous than land snakes.

'(She) played with death. The sea krait she picked up is known to be ten times more venomous than a rattlesnake… They are deadly,” she said. Yahoo.

Ms Donovan said although sea kraits are not aggressive, they will attack if they feel threatened – and interacting with them can make them feel that way.

The venom of a sea krait attacks the nervous system, which can lead to convulsions, paralysis and heart failure.

An interaction with a sea krait can also be fatal to the snake, as its spine can easily break.

Sea kraits are generally ten times more venomous than land snakes

Ms Donovan said because they had adapted so well to the water, even being held upside down could kill them.

The wildlife nurse advised people who encounter one of the deadly reptiles to walk away slowly and not touch or pick them up to avoid injury to themselves and the snake.

Facebook users were shocked that Ms Parish had chosen not only to play and pose with a snake, but that she survived to tell others about it.

Many believed she was “dumb lucky” and suggested the general rule of “don't know, don't touch” should have been used.

The last sea krait death in Australia occurred in 2018, when a 23-year-old man was bitten while touching a fishing net on a trawler in the Northern Territory.