A deadly six-foot black mamba slithered out from beneath a family's Christmas tree.
The family from Queensburgh, South Africa, couldn't believe their eyes as they watched the huge snake move around inside the tree before hiding behind a speaker.
The black mamba's bite has a 100% fatality rate if untreated.
The family called snake catcher Nick Evans to remove the unwanted guest as soon as possible.
Nick posted a picture of the black mamba on Facebook and told his followers about the nasty Christmas surprise.
"Santa left me an early Christmas present, although not at my house, no, under someone else's Christmas tree," he joked.
"I picked it up from where it was hiding, with the tongs, lifted it over the wires and things that could get knocked over, put it on the lounge floor and pinned it down.
"The family were rather shocked as you can imagine.
"It's one of the more amusing places I've found a mamba."
One
person said in the comments: "Christmas would be cancelled for me and
my family. Will move out immediately." While another said: "I'm not
putting up a tree now!"
The black mamba is the world's second-longest venomous snake behind the King Cobra and can grow to be nearly 10ft-long, and its bite can release a neurotoxin that can kill a human in 20 minutes if untreated.
