Mother Finds Venomous Snake Among Daughter's Toys, Mistakes It For Shoelace

A Sydney mom was in for a shock when she discovered an aggressive snake among her child's toys in her bedroom Friday night.

Meg, from Cammeray on the North Shore, said she was tidying her daughter's bedroom when she found something near the toys and almost picked it up thinking it was a shoelace. She captured the reptile on a camera and sent the video to the radio station 2GB. "It was a surprise visitor on a Friday night," the mother told the audience Monday.

Meg said she had her daughter's friends around on the day she discovered the reptile. "It was later on Friday night, when I was putting the girls to bed, I stepped over a few toys because they were playing with a few friends that afternoon," Meg said.

"I thought it was a shoelace and I was going to pick it up, but I decided to turn the light on and see what it was. It was actually a snake. I thought it couldn't be a snake. Sure enough it was," she added.

The footage captured by Meg shows the creature in a defensive position. The reptile is seen violently striking an object away from the camera. It continues to move with its head arched toward a Rubik's Cube.

Meg then caught the snake in a container and placed it on a tree outside the home. She also did a quick Google search before releasing it, to find out the species. The gold-colored markings on its head suggest it could be a golden-crowned snake, a species endemic to Australia, said Meg.

These varieties are venomous but are not considered dangerous. When in danger, these species arch their neck and make a series of striking movements, but rarely bite or inject venom.

"My daughter, Poppy, eventually named it 'Mr Snakey' and she said she missed it once we'd let it go," said Meg.

Last month, a 10-year-old girl had to be rushed to a hospital after she was bitten twice by a mulga snake while sleeping. Emergency medical service was called to the girl's home in Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory of Australia, after she was bitten.