Dad and son confronted with red bellied black snake at Jamberoo Recreation Park south coast

Dad and his little boy set off on the first toboggan ride of the day at Jamberoo – before they’re faced with a terrifying sight on the track seconds later

  • A father and son came across a venomous snake on a toboggan ride 
  • They were at the Jamberoo Recreation Park when they ran over the snake
  • The snake wasn’t injured and was removed from the tracks 

A father has revealed the terrifying moment he came face-to-face with a venomous snake while riding the toboggan at a fun park.

The dad and his son were the first ride of the day at Jamberoo Recreation Park on the NSW south coast when they came across the reptile sunning itself on the track.

A video captured the moment they soared around the corner and saw the large red-bellied black snake before them.

A dad and his son were the first ride of the day at Jamberoo Recreation Park on the NSW South Coast when they came across the reptile sunning itself on the tracks 

‘I went over it slowly and let them know about it at the bottom. They promptly stopped anyone else getting on and hopefully moved the guy,’ the dad wrote alongside the photo on Reddit.

And while he remained cool, calm and collected his young son appeared stressed by the situation.

The photo captured his discomfort in high definition.

Are red-bellied black snakes deadly? 

Red-bellied Black Snakes are one of the most frequently encountered snakes on the east coast of Australia, and are responsible for a number of bites every year. They are a shy snake and will generally only deliver a serious bite under severe molestation.

When approached in the wild a Red-bellied Black Snake will often freeze to avoid detection, and people may unknowingly get quite close before registering the snake’s presence. 

If unable to escape the snake will rear up with its head and forebody held off but parallel to the ground, spread its neck and hiss loudly, and may even make mock strikes with a closed mouth.

Further harassment will cause the snake to lash out and deliver a rapid (but often clumsy) bite, and sometimes they may hang on and chew savagely.

The venom has predominantly anticoagulant and myotoxic effects, and symptoms of envenomation include bleeding and/or swelling at the bite site, nausea, vomiting, headache, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, sweating, local or general muscle pain and weakness, and red-brown urine (due to myoglobin being released from damaged muscle tissue). 

Source: Australian Museum  

And people on Reddit appeared to channel that energy.

‘Where you control the action. ‘I would like more action please.’ .’No, that’s too much,’ wrote one man.

‘I didn’t realise you’d be able to maneuver the controls much – but holy cow – got lucky it didn’t bite,’ said another.

Others made jokes about the snake being lost.

‘Poor guy was just trying to find his way to The Taipan,’ one man said referencing their famous slide.

Others were less surprised.

‘This happens almost everyday. Especially on the colder days that the toboggan is open. For anyone that grew up going to the Jamberoo rec park it was common knowledge to not use them for the first hour.’

The man said he usually sits out on the wild rides.

‘I usually use my kids as excuse to not go on any extreme rides.. this one was the exception! It was an awesome day.’   

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