Venomous snake hid easily among wires under woman’s desk. It slithered over her foot

One of the world’s most venomous snakes found a perfect place to hide this week when it settled in the tangle of wires under an Australian woman’s desk.

It happened at an office in the Queensland community of Dayboro, northwest of Brisbane, and the woman has her two dogs to thank for rousting the snake, according a release from Brisbane North Snake Catchers and Relocation.

However, she still came awfully close to being bitten, the company reports.

The woman was “standing up when her two Dachshunds came running into the office” and she suddenly felt “something slither over her foot,” the company wrote in an April 13 Facebook post.

A quick search of the floor led her to find a 2- to 3-foot snake “slithering under her desk.”

It was an eastern brown snake “capable of a fatal bite if handled or harassed,” the company wrote. Photos show it easily blended in with a half-dozen black cords under the desk.

“The lady was extremely lucky not to have been bitten as this young snake was one seriously cranky snake,” Steven Brown of Brisbane North Snake Catchers wrote on Facebook.

“I couldn’t even get a decent photo of it due to throwing its self around. Lady took her two Dachshunds to vets to get the all clear. I mentioned to the lady to buy a lotto ticket or two.”

The company makes it a practice to catch snakes alive and release all native species back into the wild.

Eastern brown snakes average about 5 feet in length and have a deceptively painless bite that is “difficult to detect,” according to the Australian Museum. Their venom contains toxins that “can result in progressive paralysis and uncontrollable bleeding,” experts say.

“Being an alert, nervous species they often react defensively if surprised or cornered, putting on a fierce display and striking with little hesitation,” the museum reports.

“This species has the unfortunate distinction of causing more deaths from snake bite than any other species of snake in Australia.”

This story was originally published April 13, 2022 at 8:43 AM with the headline "Venomous snake hid easily among wires under woman’s desk. It slithered over her foot."