Snake park owner back at work after bite

BUNDABERG, Australia, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- The owner of an Australian reptile park, bitten by a deadly eastern brown snake, was back on the job Thursday working with the snake that almost killed him.

Ian Jenkins apologized to the audience at Snakes Downunder in Queensland just before he passed out Tuesday, The Fraser Coast Chronicle reported. He spent a night in intensive care at Bundaberg Hospital.

Jenkins said he was probably bitten by Blackie, the brown snake, while handling it before the show. But he did not realize what had happened because there was no pain from the venom and he could not see any puncture marks.

"Apart from feeling like a complete idiot, I'm fine," he said Thursday. "If someone told me they didn't realize they were bitten by a snake, I wouldn't have believed them. I used the same snake in a show today -- when you fall off the horse, you've got to get straight back on."

The eastern brown, found on the east coast of Australia, is one of the world's deadliest snakes. Its venom is second only to the taipan, another Australian resident, in toxicity.