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01-03-2018

Eggs found at Australian school may belong to deadly snake

Over three dozen eggs found buried in a sandpit at a primary school in Australia have caused quite a commotion. A flurry of sources reported on social media that the eggs belonged to one of the deadliest snakes on the planet, the eastern brown snake, and this mystery remains unsolved.

Wildlife rescuers from the group Fawna responded to the St. Joseph’s Catholic primary school in New South Wales after students discovered around 12 eggs in their sandpit. The rescuers ultimately found seven nests, containing a total of 43 eggs.

Rod Miller was one of the Fawna employees that collected the eggs. He told The Guardian Australia, “I believed they were brown snake eggs due to the fact that they were seen in the area and that when I shone a light through the egg I saw a small striped baby snake.”

Fawna took to social media to address critics who were saying that the eggs could not be brown snake eggs.

“When we found the eggs we carefully checked the eggs over and found that they contained what appeared to be snake hatchlings,” said the volunteer wildlife team. “We were told was there were a couple of sightings of large brown snakes behind the area and all we could surmise is that they were brown snake eggs.”

Because snakes do not dig to bury their nests, many people believe that the eggs belonged to water dragons.

The nests were relocated after they were removed from the school. Miller told The Guardian that upon their return to the nests, the rescuers found an unhatched egg which “looked like a small pink worm with a couple of eyes which I can only think was a snake as it had no limbs.”

By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Photo Credit: Fawna

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