An English woman received the fright of her life this week after discovering a three-metre python curled up in her Christmas tree.
Leanne Chapman and her partner came home from work on Thursday evening when they found the slithering creature.
Posting in the Facebook group Poms Loving Brisbane, she wrote: “Got a bit of a shock when we came home from work this evening… Welcome to Christmas in Australia.”
Speaking to 7News following the incident, Leanne said it was certainly a surprise.
“It was a bit of a shock to begin with,” she said. “You don’t really expect to see a snake in your Christmas tree.”
She said they’d come home from work when they noticed a couple of butcherbirds going crazy on the balcony.
“My partner’s gone out there was actually videoing them because they were going mad,” she explained. “As he’s turned around and stepped back, he didn’t realise he was leaning on the Christmas tree with the snake wrapped around it.”
And it comes months after a snake catcher left social media users baffled as they tried to figure out where a sneaky snake was found hiding in an elderly couple’s kitchen. Brisbane Snake Catchers were called out to a home in the coastal Brisbane suburb of Wynnum to remove a python from a home. Upon arrival they decided to take a snap of the room the reptile was in, later posting it to Facebook to see if anyone could see where it had settled.
“We were called out today to an elderly couple’s home in Wynnum, Brisbane,” the post read alongside a photo of inside the home. “Can you find the snake in this kitchen?”
The question proved harder than some first thought, with many questioning whether they were in need of some new glasses with absolutely no idea where the snake had hidden away. The post received hundreds of comments with answers ranging from: In the cupboard or at the top of shelves, to hiding in a cutlery drawer out of sight. But for the most part, people were completely stumped.
“Is that him wrapped around the cup?” one person commented. “Is the snake the tiny lump on the left of the basket at the top of the cabinets?” another asked.
It’s quite difficult to spot at first but its body can be seen slightly behind the plate, near the air freshener and out of reach from the elderly couple who were quick to call for help.