A mother found one of the world’s deadliest snakes hiding in her child’s lunchbox in a town in the state of South Australia, local media reported Tuesday.

“The child’s mother was preparing food at home in Hahndorf when she found the juvenile eastern brown snake hiding in the lunchbox’s lid,’’ snake catcher Rolly Burrell from the nearby state capital of Adelaide told newsmen.

“Not really what you expect to see when you check if your child ate the fruit.

“She had already started packing it, she didn’t even see it and she was halfway through putting the lunch in and then she saw it and shut the lid down and gave us a call.

“A baby brown snake is just as lethal as a full grown one,’’ Burrell said, adding that the snake was removed without incident.

He said snakes tend to get into enclosed spaces so they feel secure, adding he had received an unusually high number of calls this summer.

“We’re doing about 50, 60 calls a day and they’re all baby brown snakes,’’ he said, adding it was the highest number in past 40 years.

The species is prevalent across Australia’s eastern coast and inland.

According to coroner’s data released in 2017, the snakes have been responsible for 23 deaths since 2000.

Earlier, an Australian schoolgirl found a juvenile red-bellied black snake, which is venomous but not deadly, sliding across her hand when she opened her backpack for lunch in Brisbane. (dpa/NAN)