Heartbreaking moment when father steps barefoot on a deadly snake slithering outside his front door
- Melbourne father stepped on a deadly snake
- He stood on a deadly copper head in the lowlands
- Despite being barefoot, he was not bitten
One lucky father made an incredible escape when he stepped barefoot on a deadly snake slithering outside the front door of his home.
Arvind, who lives in Donnybrook, 50km north of Melbourne, stepped on a large lowland copperhead taking in the sun in its fore path.
The father screamed when he realized what had just happened, checking to make sure the five-foot snake wasn’t chasing after him as he charged into his front yard.
He then desperately warned his family and told them to stay indoors.
The terrifying scene was captured by Arvind’s home security system and shared on the Facebook page of snake catcher, Mark Pelley, who was called to take it down.
After its run-in with Arvind, the Copperhead managed to crawl under the concrete footpath and hide until Mr. Pelley finally caught the creature.
Mr Pelley said Arvind is ‘great and did the right thing’.
“He kept his family away from the snake after such a dangerous event and good news, he is going to work tomorrow as Arvind is safe and not bitten.”
Mr Pelley called the video on Facebook ‘A moment between life and death’.
It is no exaggeration as a bite from a lowland copperhead can be fatal.
A confrontation with a lowland copperhead is a truly dangerous event. The venom is potentially fatal if a bite is left untreated
The terrifying scene was captured by Arvind’s home security system and shared on the Facebook page of snake catcher, Mark Pelley, who was called upon to remove it (pictured, Mr. Pelley with the brass head)
“The venom is potently neurotoxic, haemolytic and cytotoxic, and a bite from an adult of any of the species could potentially be fatal without medical attention,” the Australian Museum said.
But it may not just be luck that Arvind wasn’t bitten.
Copperheads prefer not to bite humans if they can.
“If cornered, a copperhead will hiss loudly, flatten its body and thrash or flutter about, but usually without biting,” the Australian Museum said.