Featured Image Credit: Facebook
Topics: News, Animals, Australia, World News
Kit Roberts
If you're ever in a place which is known for having a lot of dangerous flora and fauna, it's probably a good idea to use the 'don't know, don't touch' rule.
But that didn't stop an Australian woman from picking up an animal on the beach after thinking it was 'cute'.
Suzanne Parish had been on vacation in New Caledonia with her partner when she spotted the animal, and decided to pick it up for a picture.
The creature that she spotted was a small striped snake, and she posed with it - even kissing it.
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As a rule of thumb, it's really not wise to be picking up wild animals in general, never mind posing for pictures and kissing them.
But in this case Suzanne narrowly avoided tragedy, as it turned out the snake was a highly venomous species whose bite can be fatal.
That's because the snake was a sea krait, a species with a venom that can be ten times as powerful as that of a rattlesnake.
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Fortunately, bites from sea kraits are rare - partly because they rarely interact with humans, what with living in the sea.
But picking one up and kissing it is really not the best idea.
Australia Seabird and Turtle Rescue veterinary nurse Belinda Donovan was horrified by the pictures, saying: "[She] was playing with death. The sea krait that she actually picked up is known to be ten times more toxic than that of a rattlesnake... They're fatal."
She added that like many snakes sea kraits generally aren't aggressive and will only bite if they feel threatened.
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Handling them is absolutely a thing which could make the reptiles feel like they are in danger, and could provoke a bite.
Suzanne posted to Facebook and warned other travellers to not make the same mistake that she did.
She said: "I joined the [Facebook] group a bit ago for funny posts and realised I had something relatable to share."
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Sea krait venom can cause convulsions, paralysis, and cardiac failure.
People have died from being bitten by the snakes before, including a 23-year-old man who died from a bite after touching a section of fishing net.
Interactions with sea kraits can also prove fatal for the snake, as they are very small and delicate so can have their spines broken during handling.
A similar incident occurred when a man found a Portuguese Man O'War washed up on the beach.
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Video shows him picking up the highly venomous animal, which is not a jellyfish but a siphonophore, and licking the top of it.
Fortunately that part of the animal doesn't contain the stinging cells, which can cause excruciating pain and death.