Snake eggs found by Australian toddler hatch in his wardrobe

Kyle Cummings, three, stashed the eggs in his bedroom, where his mother later found seven deadly eastern brown snakes
Snakes found by Australian boy Kyle Cummings
The eastern brown snakes found by Kyle Cummings' mother after hatching in Townsville, northern Queensland. Photograph: Trish Prendergast/AP

A three-year-old Australian boy was lucky to escape uninjured after a collection of eggs he found in his yard hatched into snakes inside his wardrobe.

Reptile specialist Trish Prendergast said Kyle Cummings, of Townsville, Queensland, could have been killed if he had handled the eastern brown snakes – one of the world's most venomous species on land.

Kyle found nine eggs a few weeks ago in the grass on his family's property on the outskirts of Townsville, she said. He put them into a plastic takeaway food container and stashed them in his wardrobe. By the time his mother, Donna Sim, found the container,

seven had hatched. But the snakes remained trapped under the container's lid. The remaining two eggs were probably infertile and were rotten, Prendergast said.


Prendergast, who has now released the snakes into the wild, said: "Their fangs are only a few millimetres long at that age, so they probably couldn't break the skin, but they're just as venomous as full-grown snakes. If venom had got on Kyle's skin where there was a cut or if he put it in his mouth, it could have been fatal."

Eastern brown snakes, which can grow to more than 2 metres (6.5ft), long usually stay with their eggs but sometimes leave for short periods to feed. "He's very lucky he didn't encounter the mother while he was taking her eggs," Prendergast said.

The snakes were 12-15cm long and had probably hatched around five days before they were released, she said, adding that they were thirsty but otherwise healthy.
