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Man’s bizarre walking stick attack on deadly snake at the beach

A man decided to take matters into his own hands when a highly venomous sea snake got too close to shore on a beach at The Strand at Townsville.

Swimmers were cleared when the sea snake was spotted but armed only with a walking stick, the man can be seen wading into the ocean up to his waist and trying to use his cane to ‘whack’ the snake as it swims further out to sea.

According to Nine News the man ignored the advice of lifesavers to stay out of the water and is incredibly lucky the snake wasn’t in a fighting mood.

“Sea snakes are highly venomous and the venom is not fully understood yet,” Lake Macquarie Snake Catcher Colin Shoemark told Yahoo News Australia.

man walks out to sea and whacks sea snake with cane in qld
Armed only with a walking stick, the man ignored lifesavers and waded out to sea 'whacking' the venomous snake with his cane. Source: 9News

The snake expert added that although not normally aggressive, interacting with a sea snake like this man did could be fatal.

“A defensive bite from one of these animals could be fatal,” Mr Shoemark said.

Nine News also reported that the man allegedly beat the snake with his cane when it returned to the sand.

This could land him in trouble.

“It’s illegal to kill native fauna,” Mr Shoemark said.

If you see a sea snake washed up on the beach it’s most likely injured, the snake catcher suggested “report it to the authorities so a trained wildlife carer can look after it.”

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