A highly-venomous tiger snake caused disruption in Melbourne's CBD on Thursday.
The snake was seen crawling around the gutter on the corner of Spencer and Collins Streets before police cordoned off the area.
Snake catcher Barry Goldsmith successfully caught the reptile in front of a crowd of onlookers.
"It's not very often they come right into the CBD, but they do live around here. They eat mice and rats and we're swamped with (them) at the moment," Mr Goldsmith said.
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"He could have hitchhiked here. They come up the Yarra (River), they come up the drains."
"He's injured - we're going to see if we can take him to the vet and get him fixed up."
Victorian environment department senior scientist Nick Clemann said there are several "plausible" transport modes the snake could have used to reach the city, including more sinister means.
"It could even be someone playing a practical joke, I'd hope not in terms of safety and animal welfare, but that's also a possibility that we can't discount," Mr Clemann said.
Animal management rangers respond to reports of snakes in parkland from time to time, but there hasn't been a sighting of a venomous snake in the central CBD in recent memory.
Information from the Australian Museum says that "most Australians know of tiger snakes and are aware of their fearsome reputation, though few people will ever encounter one".
"The snake's large size, often aggressive defense and toxic venom make it extremely dangerous to humans," it says.
- with AAP
