They’re known for their commitment to their clients, but the sudden arrival of one of Australia’s deadliest snakes in their Whyalla office proved to be ‘Mission Impossible’ for leading South Australian community service group Mission Australia.

The organisation had to evacuate staff and clients and close down operations until a snake catcher was able to track down the Western Brown snake which took up residence in the Whyalla regional office and was found lying on the tearoom floor by one very surprised staffer on Monday morning.

“It seems to grow in length every time we talk about it, but we think it measured 1.5-2 metres,” said Mission Australia youth worker Jason Hywood, the local Occupational Health and Safety Officer, who was among the ten staff who had to suspend operations until a discovery mission was mounted.

“It had finally hidden inside a wall cavity, and we ended up having to cut into the cupboards to pull it out,” Jason said. “The snake catcher grabbed it by its tail and it was pretty angry about it, hissing and flattening its neck like it was ready to strike,” he said.

The snake was first spotted on Friday by a staff member, who quickly cut short an outdoor smoko when the distinctive reptile, listed amongst the world’s top ten deadliest snakes, slithered by and disappeared into the bushes of the garden.

Staff luckily were able to give a good description of its unique patterns to the local snake catcher. They were told it was a Western Brown, known as an extremely dangerous and fast moving snake.

The snake was later released into the bush outside Whyalla.

For more information, please contact:
Marie McInerney, Rann Communication: 08 8211 7771

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