Man Hospitalized After Stepping on 'Secretive' Snake in His Own Home

A man has been hospitalized after stepping on a highly venomous snake in his own home in Australia.

Before going to hospital, the man caught the snake in a jar so that he could show his doctors what had bitten him.

Snake-catcher Drew Godfrey was called to the scene in Hervey Bay, in Queensland, to remove the reptile, which he described as "very gentle and placid."

"We were told over the phone that it was a juvenile red bellied black," Godfrey said in a Facebook post. "Being late at night, our suspicions were that it wasn't a small red belly, but a smaller and much more venomous species, the eastern small eyed snake. Upon arrival our suspicions were confirmed."

However, while their bite can be fatal if left untreated, Godfrey said that the snake bit the man only in "self defense."

Even if they are threatened, this species is more likely to headbutt or give dry bites—bites that do not involve the injection of venom. "Just because an animal is venomous, doesn't mean it's evil," Godfrey said.

Eastern small eyed snakes can grow to nearly 40 inches long, although the Australian Museum estimates their average length to be more like 20 inches. This specific specimen measured somewhere between 11 to 16 inches.

The species can be found along the east coast of Australia, from Cape York to Melbourne. Their dark pink under-belly, coupled with their shiny blue-black body, often leads them to being mistaken for juvenile red-bellied black snakes, one of the most commonly encountered snakes on the east coast of Australia.

"[Eastern small eyed snakes] are quite common but very small, secretive and nocturnal so they are rarely seen," Godfrey told Newsweek.

Their venom is a myotoxin that attacks the muscle tissue, including the heart muscle, but Godfrey said that they were usually very reluctant to bite.

"Bites from this species are rare and only occur if someone harasses [the snake] or hurts it," he said. "Because the man stepped on it, that would have hurt the snake. So the snake bit him in self defense. Had he stepped next to it instead, it wouldn't have bitten but instead have scurried away. Snakes don't attack people. They are defensive, not aggressive.

"It's an incredibly rare incident...the snake would have been terrified."

If you are ever bitten by a snake, which remains an extremely rare occurrence, timely treatment can be lifesaving. "Thankfully [the man has] done the right thing and gone to hospital," Godfrey said. "With the correct first aid and medical treatment, it's actually hard to die from snake bites these days, so old mate should hopefully be just fine."

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Update 01/23/23, 10:16 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include additional information about the species.