VIDEO: Venomous snake found lurking in family's Christmas tree

A 4.9 feet long venomous snake has been found hiding in a Christmas tree at a home of a festive family in Robertson, Western Cape Province, South Africa.

The snake was lurking in the branches of the Christmas tree which had been decorated just hours earlier, a CNN report said.

The owner of the facility, Rob Wild, a British stock market trader, told CNN he noticed there was something hiding in the branches because his cats were spying into the tree. According to him, his wife, Marcela Wild suggested a mouse could be hiding in there.

“The cats were peering into the tree and my wife said 'there's probably a mouse in there somewhere.'” He said.

He said after some few minutes, they discovered a rather different animal staring back - it was a boomslang, one of Africa's most venomous snakes hiding between the tinsel and baubles.

Rob and Marcela wasted no time in calling a professional snake catcher, Gerrie Heyns, who recovered the animal from the family's Christmas tree.

“I didn't know what it was at the time but then I Googled what snakes are in our area and it came up immediately as a boomslang. I thought 'holy Moses, this is the king of all poisonous snakes,'” the 55-year-old told CNN.

The snake catcher confirming the news to CNN said he arrived at the family's house 2 hours later but had told them to stay away from the Christmas tree keep their eyes on the snake until his arrival.

He said, “The snake was female and between 1.3 meters (4.3 feet) and 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) long.”

Source: Ghanaguadian.com