'Life and Death' Moment Dad Steps on Venomous Snake Caught on Camera
A father in Australia is lucky still to be alive after stepping on a deadly copperhead snake outside his front door on Monday morning.
Miraculously, Arvind Atri managed to jump off the snake fast enough to avoid getting bitten. CCTV footage of the ordeal shows Atri leaping high into the air the second he steps on the venomous visitor in the yard of his home in Donnybrook, near Melbourne.
The snake can then be seen slithering away under the concrete footpath, which is when snake catcher Mark Pelley, known as The Snake Hunter, was called to the scene.
Pelley shared the CCTV footage in a post on Facebook, describing the incident as "a moment between life and death."
"It took me 30 minutes of digging to get [the snake] out [from under the concrete], but finally it was captured," Pelley told Newsweek.
Lowland copperhead snakes are largely found in southeastern Australia in grasslands, heathlands, woodlands and open shrub. Despite their names, the snakes are not related to the North American copperheads: while the American copperhead is a type of viper, the Australian copperhead is an elapid snake, belonging to the same family as the cobras and the mambas.
Lowland copperheads are a medium-sized snake that tend to grow to around 3- to 5-feet long. The snakes are adapted to living in relatively cooler climates and can be active in weather that is generally considered to be too cold for other snakes.
Australian copperheads tend to be secretive and prefer to avoid humans. They will usually not bite even if they are threatened and will tend instead to hiss loudly to scare off their aggressors. Only in rare cases will they actually bite and release their powerful venom, which attacks the nerves, blood and body cells. According to the Australian Museum, a bite from an adult copperhead can be fatal without appropriate medical intervention.
Considering his close call with this deadly reptile, Atri responded very well to the incident, Pelley said: "He was very calm and collected."
After processing what had happened, Atri kept his family away from the snake and called in a professional, Pelley, to help remove it. "Arvind is amazing and did the right thing," Pelley said.
The CCTV footage, posted to Facebook, has received 17,000 views so far with many users sharing their surprise at this close encounter.
"That's insane. He is so lucky he wasn't bitten. That poor snake looks terrified as well," said one.
