A video of a snake doing what most people didn’t know it could do – jumping several metres through the air from a roof to the ground – has left many Aussies joking they’ll never leave their house again.
The video lasts just five seconds but it was enough to scare almost anyone that has seen it.
It’s not new information to snake catchers such as Liza Van Gelder from Queensland’s Lockyer Valley though, who used the video to warn again of the dangers, saying ‘hatchlings are coming out’.
The snake in the video first appears on the edge of a roof before slowly edging its body to the point where it looks like it’s just about to fall down six metres or so.
But then it does something extraordinary – it arches its body, coils it like a spring and leaps forward.
A video of a snake (pictured) doing what most people didn’t know it could do – jumping several metres through the air from a roof to the ground – is lighting up the internet
It then soared through the air, landing well away from the house it leapt from before making its way into the bush.
Councillor Mark Booth of Moreton Bay Regional Council spoke for many when commented ‘Well I could have easily gone the rest of my life not knowing they can do that…’
Ms Van Gelder also posted the clip, under the more restrained headline of ‘Here is an interesting video for everyone to watch what snakes can do’.
Ms Van Gelder, who is based in Queensland’s Lockyer Valley, explained that ‘the snake may have been trying to seek shade, or to get away to hide.
‘They don’t like to be seen, much. Birds sometimes try to attack them, so it could have been trying to escape from a bird,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
She also answered the question on most people’s minds – how did it get up on the roof in the first place?
‘Snakes actually do climb. I’ve come across a few eastern browns – highly venomous snakes – climb,’ said Ms Van Gelder.
The snake (pictured) arched its body, coiled it like a spring and the leapt forward on to the ground
‘Everyone reckons eastern browns don’t climb, but they actually utilise their body to move side to side and climb up things.
‘I’ve seen eastern browns up on roofs, up on window sills and other things.’
The good news for anyone in the vicinity of the snake starring in its own scary video is it’s not venomous – probably.
‘It’s not a clear picture, but to me it looks like a common tree snake,’ said Ms Van Gelder.
‘They like climbing up high too. I can’t tell 100 per cent from the video.
‘Common tree snakes are non-venomous, brown tree snakes are mildly venomous.’
Summer is a very busy time for snake catchers such as Liza Van Gelder (pictured)
Business has been busy lately for those in the snake catching business.
‘During the summer we have a fair few call outs. Some snake catchers are that busy that we actually have to refer calls between us to keep the community safe.
‘If we can’t attend a call because we’re already on a call out we refer someone else,’ said Ms Van Gelder.
She also expressed her sympathies over the death from a snakebite of a Lockyer Valley man on Saturday.
‘I’d like to send my condolences to the family of the elderly man who was bitten this morning and passed away,’ she wrote on Facebook.
‘This is why we ask you to please call a snake catcher and stay away and be very wary of what you’re picking up or where you’re walking.
‘We are now starting to have hatchlings coming out. Please be aware.’
For some, though, the video has provided some entertainment.
One commenter said, ‘my three year old and I watched this about 30 times and she made a new sound effect every time it’s belly hit the ground.
‘We’ve been in absolute hysterics.’
Others, however, echoed their fears.
‘You should see one go straight up a vertical brick wall and disappear into the eaves of a house through the tiniest hole that you wouldn’t think they should fit through,’ a commenter said.
‘Spent a good deal of my life with the safety slogan, look up and live. Holy crap that’s put a whole new slant on it,’ another said.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk