Family finds snake slithering through Christmas tree branches

Nov. 29 (UPI) -- An Australian mother is warning neighbors to be on the lookout after her 4-year-old found a snake slithering through the branches of their Christmas tree.

Jessica Alexandria of Brinsmead, Queensland, posted a photo to Facebook showing the green tree snake her family found among the branches of their white artificial tree.

"Snakes are about with this warmer weather! Just had one removed from my Christmas tree this afternoon... although he was harmless a good reminder to keep a watch out," she wrote.

Alexandria said her toddler was the first to spot the snake.

"My four-year-old spotted it -- a little tree snake, about a metre long, that wrapped itself around the Christmas tree," she told the Cairns Post. "We had only just put the tree up. We don't know how it got in, but it gave us a good laugh."

Alexandria said a snake catcher relocated the serpent, which turned out to be a harmless green tree snake.

"We've only just moved here from the Tablelands, so weren't really expecting to find a snake inside," she said. "We can handle it outside. But it gave me a bit of a fright, because the kids were sitting right under it, about a meter [3.5 feet] away from it. It must have thought it was a real tree."