This is the horrifying moment a huge python slithers along a shelf in a busy supermarket.
The three-metre long reptile was seen slinking through a spice section of a Woolworths in Sydney this week.
Shopper Helaina Alati was looking for spices when she turned her head and saw the diamond python "just 20cm from my face".
She told Guardian Australia: "It just wanted to say hello."
She said it was initially curled up behind the spices and that dozens of people "must have walked past it".
Woolworths staff "reacted quickly and calmly" to cordon off the area to keep customers safer, a supermarket spokesperson said.
Helaina said: "It’s lucky I was the one it popped out too. Most people would have freaked out.”
By chance, Helaina has previously worked as a volunteer snake catcher, and was able to get the necessary equipment from her nearby home to safely remove it reptile.
She then released it into a nearby bushland.
She continued: "It was chill, and not aggressive at all.
“It wasn’t in a defensive position. It slithered right into the bag. I’m used to seeing snakes in weird places but I wouldn’t expect it to be in a Woolworths.”
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Diamond pythons are non-venomous snakes and are found in bushland areas and the national parks of Sydney.
They are nocturnal and have slow-moving habits, which make it difficult for people to notice them.
The Australian Museum says on its website: "The diamond python is not as widespread in Sydney as it once was and, although it is not considered endangered, it is under pressure from habitat destruction.
“Pythons are non-venomous but can inflict a painful bite. Teeth can break off and remain embedded in the victim.”
A video of the uninvited customer went viral and many reacted online.
One wrote: "Only in Australia!"
