She barely escaped the kiss of death.
An 11-year-old girl in Australia is lucky to be alive after unknowingly playing with one of the deadliest snakes on Earth. A clip of her potentially fatal play date is currently going viral as snake experts warn the public about the perils of handling the reptile.
“The girl in the video is extremely lucky that she wasn’t bitten by the snake,” declared local serpent removal expert Stewart Gatt, better known as Stewy the Snake Catcher, in a Facebook PSA about the incident. He’d been sent the video by the girl’s grandparent, who didn’t know what the snake was and wanted the reptile enthusiast to identify it.
The young adventurer had reportedly been on a walk in Newport, a suburb of Melbourne, when she encountered an eastern brown snake — a highly venomous species that’s responsible for the most snakebite fatalities in Australia, per the post.
Unfortunately, the kid mistook the critter for a garter snake — a harmless species found in North America — and decided to pick it up.
In the accompanying footage, she can be seen with the venomous reptile entwined around her fingers like a pet snake.
“Here’s the garter snake,” she exclaims as the dangerous serpent slithers lazily about her fingers.
The critter didn’t bite her during the foolhardy encounter, which is extremely fortunate as eastern browns are highly “nervous” and pack enough venom to kill 58 people.
“This little girl could have actually died from a bite from this snake,” wrote Stewy, who is using the incident as a cautionary tale on the dangers of handling animals sans the proper knowledge.
“Please, please, please remind your children and grandchildren that you shouldn’t interfere and interact with any wildlife unless you are trained to do so,” he implored. “We need to teach our kids right from wrong, and handling any wildlife is dangerous and should be left to the professionals.”