Woman Shares Her Car with Venomous Snake for Weeks After 4 Failed Attempts to Remove the Reptile

Lisa Kournelis of Australia is driving her car in protective gear to protect her from the venomous red-bellied black snake that moved in

A woman in Australia has attempted to have a wild — and venomous — snake removed from her car four times but is still stuck driving around with the dangerous reptile.

Per a new report from Australia's ABC, Lisa Kournelis of Newcastle has had a wild red-bellied black snake, which she named  "Fluffy," living in her vehicle since March. She told the outlet that professional snake catchers have tried to remove the large snake four times, and all the attempts have failed. So Kournelis said she's decided to change her approach.

Kournelis told ABC she is learning to coexist with the snake in her vehicle since it's sticking around. The woman wears protective gear while driving to keep her safe from snake bites.

She added that she first spotted the snake in April but believes it entered the care weeks before.

"Yeah, I was putting a box in my car and it was sitting on the back seat," Kournelis said. "I believe it was in there for a good three weeks before that because I was finding snake poo everywhere."

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The civil construction worker told ABC that she suspects the reptile entered her vehicle at a worksite when she left her car door open.

While she's aware the snake could "potentially" hurt her, Kournelis noted that she didn't "really have any other choice" than to continue with her life with "Fluffy" in her vehicle — after the four failed attempts to remove the reptile.

Citing advice from one of the snake catchers who tried their luck, Kournelis told ABC that she now drives around with woolen pants and other gear to protect her from the snake, which has to set off sensors and alarms in her vehicle.

"I'm very lucky actually that I haven't been bitten, but if it does bite, these woolen work pants that I wear will take most of the venom," Kournelis said.

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"Just random times from about 11 o'clock in the morning, my car alarm will go off. I wasn't sure what it was at first, but then I clued on," she added.

Matt Stopford, a snake catcher with 40 years of experience, told the outlet that he, too, once had a red-bellied black snake living in his car, but only for four days. He called their shared situation a rare one.

"Snakes generally don't just get into the cars themselves unless it's when people have left the windows open," he said. "...I've had stories of people putting boxes in their car windows and houses, and the snake has got out from the boxes just in their garage, and that's how they've got in."

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Stopford added that removing car seats could make it a "little bit easier" to spot the snake and that the seats and dash of a car may need to be removed.

Billy Collett of the Australian Reptile Park told ABC that he is willing to attempt to remove the reptile. According to the outlet, he and Kournelis have since connected on the matter.

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