Tourists terrified by very Aussie sign at international airport
An unlucky group who travelled from the UK were 'terrified' by the sight.
International travellers are usually warned before venturing to Australia to be a little wary of the wildlife — with snakes, spiders and other potentially deadly creatures found in abundance in every jurisdiction.
And although many likely read up on our dangerous species before arriving, some may not have been prepared to be confronted by an ominous sign warning of snakes, as soon as they left the airport.
Unfortunately for some "frightened" travellers, that's exactly what they were greeted by at Brisbane International Airport earlier this week, with a new sign erected to increase awareness about area's slithery residents.
Airport claims nothing to worry about, but travellers disagree
"Caution: snakes sighted in this area", the sign, in bright red, reads.
A spokesperson for Brisbane Airport confirmed to Yahoo News Australia that it was just "100 per cent routine", but the warning was enough to spook a group of travellers from the UK.
"Saw this outside Brisbane International," a social media user wrote on Reddit. "Gave some British tourists a fright and my mum and I a massive laugh," they joked.
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While Aussies might not bat an eyelid at the sign, people from overseas weren't convinced our wildlife wasn't "trying to kill you everywhere all the time".
"[Australia] spends so much time reassuring international visitors that it's fine, Australia's not actually overrun with things trying to kill you everywhere all the time, you probably won't even see a single snake while you're here," a person wrote.
"And then they arrive to this. I would have cackled."
Not the first time slithery creatures spotted in the area
Aussies who claimed to have worked at the airport verified that indeed there are many snakes in the vicinity. "Can confirm. I worked at the airport for years and we were constantly getting snakes removed," a person wrote in response.
"Yup, first day onsite building the air traffic control. Saw a baby brown just chilling at the front door. The snake fencing there doesn't work so well," said a second. "Airport has stacks of eastern browns," said a third.
Another said the area around the airport is "absolutely crawling" with venomous snakes.
Meanwhile, Brisbane Airport itself posted about an eastern brown snake that was "transiting Taxiway Sierra" back in March.
"Did you know snake sightings on taxiways are monitored by Brisbane Airport's Airside Safety Officers," it wrote at the time. "Brisbane Airport is home to a 285 hectare Biodiversity Zone for the exclusive use of wildlife so a variety of snakes are often spotted slithering back to the wetlands."
Of the new signage, a spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia travellers have nothing to worry about.
"We have just upgraded our signage so they are more noticeable and they’re obviously working — but the only thing that has changed is the new more visible signage," the spokesperson said.
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