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'Check them': Terrifying find inside running shoes

One woman had the ultimate excuse not to go for a run after a red-belly black snake decided it looked like a cosy place to curl up.

Renee Barry, who was the unlucky recipient of the snake visitor, telling Yahoo News Australia the snake was initially trying to attack her dog, Willow, outside her East Gisspland home in Victoria.

"Willow had it bailed up in the corner on top of the shoes and I grabbed her collar and dragged her inside so my initial reaction I was actually pretty scared as I thought it had already bitten her," she said.

"I didn’t realise it was there straight away. It was about half a meter from my foot and I had nothing but shorts on."

A pair of royal blue Puma sneakers on the ground outside. A black snake can be seen curled up inside the shoe on the right.
The snake was curled up inside a Pump running shoe. Source: Facebook

Ms Barry called someone to remove the reptile, who found the 1.2 metre snake curled up inside a blue Puma sneaker, with its head just under the tongue of the shoe.

"When I got there I moved the shoes and boots out of the way to look in the most obvious place, behind the tiles," Phil O'Neill from East Gippsland snake relocation said.

"Snake wasn't there so I was about to check other parts of the garage. I asked how big the snake was and when I got the answer I thought it might fit in a shoe or boot.

"So I started checking the footwear but it wasn't until I looked closely that I noticed the snake in the blue Puma."

Mr O'Neill said it was an "easy catch" but an important warning for everyone to be vigilant and check their shoes when leaving them outside.

close up photo of the Puma sneaker with the black shiny snake curled up in the shoe.
The snake's head was just under the tongue of the shoe. Source: Facebook

Most snakes 'avoid confrontation'

According to Mr O'Neill, most snakes are quite passive and avoid confrontation.

"Even when I was looking around and moving the shoes before I'd seen the snake it stayed put. It wanted nothing to do with me, just wanted to stay hidden," he told Yahoo News Australia.

"Even when I picked the shoe up to put in my bag the snake didn't move."

He said the animals generally don't want anything to do with humans.

"There are many myths around about snakes and how they are aggressive and chase people but they are not true," he said.

"Snakes are wonderful creatures and play an essential role in ecosystems. You leave them alone and they'll go about their business and present no problem to you."

Mr O'Neill recommends keeping your distance if you see a snake in the wild and removing pets and children from the area if you see one around the house.

"If a snake is in the house try to contain it in a room and again, call a catcher," he said.

"Most importantly, don't try and deal with it yourself, leave it to an experienced professional to come and relocate it."

Red-bellies are venemous but bites are rare

According to Wildlife Victoria, the Red-bellied Black Snake can be found all along the east coast of Australia, and northern parts of Victoria.

The Red-bellied Black Snake can grow up to 2.5 metres long, but the average size is around 1.5 metres.

According to the Australian Reptile Park website, the snake is venomous but bites are rare.

"It is usually a placid and fairly docile snake, preferring to enact a lengthy bluff display with flattened neck and deep hisses rather than bite," the website reads.

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