Horrifying moment a huge red bellied black snake is pulled from a tradie's ute after hiding underneath the pedals during a six hour drive

This is the frightening moment a man removed a deadly red bellied black snake from a tradie's ute after it hid under the pedals for six hours without the driver knowing. 

The two metre long, red-bellied black snake was pulled out from a man's ute in Ballina, NSW on December 27 by a professional snake catcher.

The rescue, captured on a mobile phone, shows the moment the snake catcher takes the reptile from the footwell of the car with his bare hands. 

In the short clip the man, known as Jack, attempts to use a metal hook to pull out the snake before he has to reach for it with his hands. 

A poisonous red belly black snake has been pulled out from under the seats of a man's ute in NSW

'Come on,' Jack can be heard saying to the snake before dropping his phone from the struggle.  

'He's coming out you way mate. Just watch yourself,' said Jack to the owner of the ute. 

Jack then picked up his phone and rushed to the other side of the car where the snake had slithered to. 

'Where'd he go?' said Jack before spotting it in the front seat. 

Jack held the snake by its tail and moved it onto the grass where he got a good shot of the deadly reptile up close. 

Professional Snake Catcher, Jack, used his bare hands to catch the unwilling snake

Footage shows the snake striking out a number of times as it hangs from the snake catcher grip

'Did you just grab that?' said the owner of the ute.

The video, posted to Facebook and YouTube, has been viewed a combined total of 8000 times with some marvelling at how lucky the driver of the Ute was during his 6 hour trip. 

'Quite feisty. Good job he didn’t crawl out while the guy was driving,' commented a viewer.

Red bellied black snakes 

Red-bellied Black Snakes are one of the most frequently encountered snakes on the east coast of Australia.

They can grow up to 2.5metres long and usually live in moist environments near bodies of water. 

They occur continuously from south eastern Queensland through to eastern New South Wales and Victoria.

When threatened, the red bellied black snake will raise its body and strike out several times. 

Very few human deaths have resulted from their poisonous bite but all bites should be treated immediately and receive medical attention.

The Australia Museum     

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