A Darwin school student received an unexpected shock yesterday when they opened their schoolbag to retrieve their lunch only to discover a snake slithering inside.
The student’s quick-thinking teacher zipped up the bag and called in snake catcher Chris Peberdy to retrieve the reptile.
“I got a call from a concerned school in the Darwin area that one of the students had opened their school bag and much to their surprise realised they had brought with them more than lunch,” he said.
“A snake had crawled in there, possibly the night before, and only showed itself in class.
“The teacher took the bag straight up to the office where it was secured and then rang me and I came straight away.”
He says it is very lucky it turned out to be a non-venomous python.
“Lucky it was only a water python, just newly born.
“So it’s non-venomous, but certainly a close call.”