Believe it or not!
from ABC online:-
A man is recovering in hospital after being bitten by a brown snake outside a Melbourne city department store this morning.
The 29-year-old man was bitten when he dropped some cardboard into a dumpster in a loading bay outside the Myer Londsdale Street store around 9:30am.
Ambulance paramedic Heidi Taylor treated the man on the scene.
"He was putting some cardboard in [the bin] when a snake leapt up and bit him on the finger, and hung on apparently for a few seconds," she said.
Ms Taylor says there were four visible puncture wounds on his right hand.
Some passers-by gave the man first aid until the ambulance arrived.
The man is in a stable condition at St Vincent's Hospital.
A spokesperson for the hospital says the snake did not inject any venom and the man will be kept in overnight for observation.
Ms Taylor says the crew was very surprised to deal with a snake bite in the city.
"I've been a paramedic for eight years, I've never been to a snake bite wound and I'd say it's incredibly rare in the city," she said.
"We were very surprised."
Snake catcher John Birkett says snakes are sometimes found in inner Melbourne.
"It's uncommon, every year we tend to get snake calls in the CBD, usually from hitchhiking snakes, snakes that are hitchhiking rides on the back of or underneath vehicles, motor vehicles," he said.
"Maybe one or two, if you were to get three calls in a year that would be unusual."
The reptile has not been found.
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"The reptile has not been found" !!!!!!
