Eastern Brown snake scare as traveller finds reptile slithering under seats in Brisbane airport

A traveler was in for a terrifying surprise when one of the world’s most venomous snakes casually made its way through a busy Australian airport.

The Australian holidaymaker was sitting at the gate at Brisbane airport on Saturday when he crawled the snake towards him.

In a photo shared on Reddit, the man said the snake had gone undetected until someone said the “S” word.

‘Nobody else had seen it’ [the snake] but still, so I didn’t know how to respond,” wrote Reddit user ankilien.

“I got off the couch… then someone else said the S word, and the whole gate went up in panic.”

Ankilien said travelers believed it was a brown snake — the second most venomous in the world — and called it “one of the most aggressive in the world.”

A Brisbane Airport spokeswoman confirmed that a qualified snake catcher had to be called in.

“It was a bit of a surprise for staff and passengers, but everyone was moved safely to another gate while the unexpected guest was escorted out of the terminal building,” the spokesman said.

“A qualified snake catcher moved the visitor from the Domestic Terminal.

The traveler said the entire gate ‘went up in a panic’ at Brisbane Airport (pictured) when others noticed the reptile

Internet users speculated about the species, with many arguing that it was too difficult to identify the reptile from a single photo.

“It kind of looks like a Yellow-headed whipsnake, but it’s hard to tell. There are many snakes with brownish colors that are not brown snakes,” noted one user.

“If it’s a brown, it’s a very small brown. Most likely a whip snake or boom snake of that size. Tree snakes can be green, brown or even blue,” wrote another user.

Other users were quick to correct the traveler’s claim that the snake was “defensive” and not “aggressive.”

“Eastern browns aren’t aggressive unless you take them away or corner them. They’re harmless if you just leave them alone and let professionals handle them,” one user wrote.

“They are not aggressive at all. People are rarely bitten unless they poke around with it,” noted another user.

“There are other snake species that are known to be much more aggressive,” said a third user.

Other users said lightly that a photo of a snake in an airport doesn’t help Australia’s reputation that everything in nature is out to get us.

“This is the kind of thing that makes the rest of the word think that nature wants to get us here in Australia and that snakes and spiders are everywhere,” the user wrote.

Other users scoffed at the snake image and compared it to the movie “Snakes on a Plane” starring Samuel L Jackson.

“Samuel L Jackson won’t be happy to hear this,” one user wrote.

Another user quoted the movie: “I’ve had it with these motherf****** snakes in this motherf****** airport!”

Brisbane Airport is home to a huge 285 hectare biodiversity zone for the exclusive use of wildlife.

EAST BROWN SNAKE

Pictured: Eastern Brown Snake

The eastern brown snake, often called the common brown snake, is native to eastern and central Australia and can also be found in southern New Guinea.

Adult oriental brown snakes have a slender build and can grow up to 2 m in length.

The color of the surface varies from light brown to black, while the underside is pale cream yellow, often with orange or gray spots.

Considered the second venomous snake in the world, after the inland taipan, and if one bite is left untreated, it can kill a human within half an hour.

The species is responsible for about 60 percent of human deaths from snakebites in Australia

Symptoms of a brown snake bite:

Systemic poisoning including hypotension and collapse, thrombotic microangiopathy, major haemorrhage and cardiac arrest

Other symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diaphoresis (sweating), abdominal pain, acute kidney injury, and seizures.

Symptoms can come on quickly, with collapse occurring as early as two minutes after the bite, headache developing within 15 minutes and clotting abnormalities within 30 minutes.

If you are bitten, apply a pressure bandage to the bite site and call an ambulance immediately.

“He probably travels with Qantasssssssssssss,” commented another user.

“So a real snake can get through the security and I still have to empty my water bottle to fill it at a 20 meter tap on the other side of the security,” a fourth user joked.

The eastern brown snake is considered the second most venomous snake in the world, after the inland taipan, and can kill humans if its bites are left untreated within half an hour.

The species is responsible for about 60 percent of human deaths from snakebites in Australia

The species can grow up to 2 meters in length and is native to eastern and central Australia and southern New Guinea.