A NSW schoolgirl has had the fright of her life after she discovered a red-bellied black snake in her lunchbox.
Seven-year-old Meila Haynes was packing up her schoolbag before bell time yesterday when she peered into her lunchbox and spotted the venomous reptile.
At first, she thought the snake which was wrapped around her popcorn and Le Snak cheese and crackers may not be real.
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“One of my friends was bringing fake snakes to school and I thought it was one of those but then I saw it move,” Meila told NBN News.
“I stepped back and I ran to get away from the snake. I felt really scared.”
Teachers at the school in the Hunter Valley called in snake catchers to remove the slithering intruder.
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“She squealed and got the teacher’s attention and scurried away,” her mother Jaide said.
“I picked the kids up from school yesterday afternoon and they were a bit hyped up and nervy.
“Meila couldn’t get her words out and said there was something in her lunchbox.”
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Seaham Public School principal Craig Partridge said the incident resulted in “an unusual afternoon”.
“Everything was normal up until about 2.50pm, then we saw a commotion and lots of kids running in one direction and some screams,” Partridge said.
“Around Seaham, we do have a lot of snakes and do risk assessments for these things, a snake in a lunchbox isn’t one of them.”
A local snake catcher said the snake appeared to be on the hunt for a hiding spot.
The scaly serpent provided a real-life lesson for Meila and her classmates.
“(She should) probably do up her lunchbox,” her mother Jaide said with a laugh.
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