An Australian snake catcher was in the middle of another job when he received an urgent call about a venomous snake crawling among children at a daycare.
Here's what to know
The urgent request for help came from a child care center in Melbourne. Mark Pelley, also known as the Snake Hunter, responded, according to local news station 9News.
Pelley said an educator's quick response helped avert a potential tragedy. The children had been putting on sunscreen when the tiger snake came in through an open door.
"She just got the kids to back away, and then she evacuated everyone from the room, notified all the staff, and they all watched the snake crawling around the center until I arrived," Pelley told the station.
Staff checked the children for any bites, though snakes generally attack only when directly provoked. Still, Pelley worried that young children might not recognize or report what had happened.
"Children do not always report that a snake bit them, and sometimes you don't even feel them bite," Pelley told 9News. "It feels like you've been whacked on the leg by a stick or something, so you don't actually realize you're being bitten."
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What's being done?
According to 9News, the checks ruled out any concerning contact between the children and the snake.
Any uncertainty would have been reason to call emergency phone number Triple Zero immediately, Pelley told the teachers, per the outlet.
"If one of the kids panicked, didn't see the snake, or didn't listen and accidentally stepped on it, that could have been a fatal situation," he said.
Where can I learn more?
Snake encounters have disrupted schools well beyond this Melbourne child care center:
• In India's Jalpaiguri, students fled after a cobra coiled inside a classroom, halting lessons.
• In Kolkata, a snake bit a first-grader inside a classroom, the second incident that week.
• A Nebraska middle school evacuated a classroom after a nonvenomous snake appeared inside.
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