--- title: Snake in Christmas Tree PHOTO description: An Australian snake did its best partridge in a pear tree impression by hiding in a Christmas tree canonical: https://time.com/4606436/snake-christmas-tree/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-19T20:06:51.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:39:36.540Z og:title: Snake in Tree Makes For Worst Christmas Surprise Ever og:description: A partridge in a pear tree is way better than a snake in a Christmas tree og:url: https://time.com/4606436/snake-christmas-tree/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Snake in Tree Makes For Worst Christmas Surprise Ever twitter:description: A partridge in a pear tree is way better than a snake in a Christmas tree twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Snake in Tree Makes For Worst Christmas Surprise Ever by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Dec 19, 2016 8:06 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Dec 19, 2016 8:06 PM UTC An [Australian](http://time.com/4243192/australian-man-pet-snake-swimming/?iid=sr-link6) woman found an extra special ornament on her Christmas tree—a live tiger [snake](http://time.com/4561535/snake-plane-mexico/?iid=sr-link1). The toxic critter was doing its best imitation of a partridge in her pear tree, loitering among the branches of the woman’s Christmas tree in her living room on the outskirts of Melbourne. After spotting the snake, the woman snapped a photo of it and then sealed off the room until professional [snake](http://time.com/4468261/britney-spears-snake-mtv-vma/?iid=sr-link3) catcher Barry Goldsmith could come take care of Santa’s little cold-blooded helper. According to Goldsmith’s [Snake](http://time.com/4339867/copperhead-snake-bites-customer-at-lowes/?iid=sr-link9) Catcher Victoria’s [Facebook post](https://www.facebook.com/Snakecatchervictoria/posts/1445526832143830:0), “20 minutes later \[he\] had the little bugger in a bag.” Hopefully to be sent straight back to the North Pole in time for Christmas. As _Mashable_ noted, the tiger snake [is a protected species](http://www.depi.vic.gov.au/%5F%5Fdata/assets/pdf%5Ffile/0008/205865/TigerSnake.pdf) in Australia, so if you find yourself in a similar situation, do not panic and decide to burn down the entire Christmas tree. Instead, keep the endangered animal safe and simply move to another country (or call a professional to take the [snake](http://time.com/4461569/python-loose-maine-10-feet/?iid=sr-link4) to a better environment in which to celebrate Christmas). \[H/T [Mashable](http://mashable.com/2016/12/18/snake-christmas-tree-australia/?utm%5Fcid=hp-h-5#8ujfT.EbMqq1)\] Snake in Christmas Tree PHOTO ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4606436/snake-christmas-tree/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4606436/snake-christmas-tree/"},"headline":"Snake in Tree Makes For Worst Christmas Surprise Ever","datePublished":"2016-12-19T20:06:51.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:39:36.540Z","description":"A partridge in a pear tree is way better than a snake in a Christmas tree","url":"https://time.com/4606436/snake-christmas-tree/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Australia","animals","christmas","Holidays","Snakes"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4606436/snake-christmas-tree/","name":"Snake in Tree Makes For Worst Christmas Surprise Ever"}}]}] ```