Driver’s 'terrifying' encounter on road during morning commute

Half a dozen onlookers spread out around the car as a snake expert searched inside.

Kiara (centre) and several men look at the snake Chris Williams is holding on a stick in Pendle Hill.
Kiara (centre) had been driving to work when she saw a snake close to her feet. Source: Urban Reptile Removal

A crowd rapidly formed around a small, grey hatchback parked in front of a suburban train station on Thursday morning. Moments earlier the driver had flung open her door and evacuated in fear.

“I was terrified. Absolutely terrified,” a shaken 21-year-old Kiara told Yahoo News.

The Sydney resident was on her way to work when she heard rustling on the ground beside her. “I looked down and had a look, pulled over and got out of the car as quickly as possible,” she said.

Photos supplied to Yahoo by reptile expert Chris Williams show a look of horror on Kiaria’s face as she watched him remove a metre-long snake from her car at Pendle Hill in Sydney’s west.

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Car doors open. A man looks inside for a red-bellied black snake at Pendle Hill.
A small crowd watched on as Williams searched for the snake at Pendle Hill. Source: Urban Reptile Removal

Prior to the incident, she’d been considering getting a snake as a pet but for now that idea has been set aside.

"I've held them at the Reptile Park and always thought it would be good to own one, but now, absolutely not," she said.

Since the weather began warming up a fortnight ago, Chris Williams' Urban Reptile Removal business has reported an influx of snake callouts, with several found inside cars. Less than a week ago a harmless green tree snake slithered across a commuter’s windscreen as she drove home from the country.

A red-bellied black snake hidden inside a car under a floor mat
Can you spot the snake hidden inside Kiara’s car? Source: Urban Reptile Removal

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What Kiara found in her car was more troubling, with the intruder identified as a red-bellied black snake. While there haven’t been any known fatalities caused by the species, and it doesn’t generally have an aggressive temperament, its venom can have long term health impacts, including altering taste and smell.

Snakes will usually try to avoid contact with larger predators like humans, and bites usually only occur when they are threatened and need to defend themselves. A Melbourne University report found men are overwhelmingly more likely to be killed by a snake than women. And fatal attacks usually occur in the warmer months of the year and close to home.

Two pictures of Williams holding the red-belly at Pendle Hill after removing it from the car.
Williams expertly removed the snake from Kiara's car. Source: Sam Sivasithamparam

Williams received a call from Kiara’s mother about the snake, and raced to the scene.

When she jumped out of the car it was still actively moving around, and that’s always a bad sign for snake catchers.

“My fear with those ones is that it will crawl up inside the seats. There's 100 places in cars that are really inaccessible, and once they're in there, you can spend all day on it,” Williams said.

Luckily the crowd of onlookers spotted the snake from a distance and pointed it out.

“There were plenty of helpers and people just wanting to offer free advice. One of them spotted part of the snake protruding from the car floor mat which was incredibly fortunate.”

The snake will be relocated to a safe bushland area away from people. But for Kiara driving will never be the same again. "I'm terrified of getting back in my car," she said.

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