While you may not want to find any creature in your shoes when you slip them on in the morning, I think we can all agree that finding a venomous snake in there ranks high on the list of "things I don't want in my footwear."
Unfortunately for one Australian family, that's exactly what happened to them last week.
Mullet Mick, a snake professional with Moreton Bay Snake Catchers in Queensland, Australia, was called onto the scene. A man had tried to put on his running shoes and found a horrible surprise: a highly venomous red-bellied black snake curled up in the toe box of the sneaker.
Red-bellied black snakes are a member of the Elapidae family and are native to western Australia. With distinct red bellies and a glossy black topside, the snakes are striking to look at. They're also highly venomous, and their bites are very painful and can cause swelling, prolonged bleeding, and local necrosis. Thankfully, the snakes are generally not aggressive and tend to withdraw and hide rather than attack, just as the snake in the sneaker was doing when Mullet Mick arrived on the scene to remove it.
Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7 posted a video of the encounter on their Facebook page.
In the video, Mullet Mick crouches outside on a tiled walkway with the shoe in question and a few tools of the trade. He carefully sticks a hook into the shoe to prod the snake out, and the snake comes shooting out of the shoe. Luckily, Mullet Mick's reflexes are fast and he grabs the snake by the tail, holding it up before slipping it into a large cloth bag, which he secures carefully. The video then cuts to Mullet Mick with the cloth bag in the woods. He untwists it and carefully frees the snake back into the forest after one last close-up with the camera.
Even if you don't live in somewhere like Australia, this is a good reminder to always check your shoes and boots if you leave them outside. Things could have gone south quickly if the owner of the sneakers had tried to shove his foot into the shoe with the red-bellied black snake— both for him and for the snake.
And, if you do encounter a snake or any other wildlife in your home or personal belongings, leave its removal to the professionals, and call wildlife control.
