Fewer still have seen the glint in the eye of a red-bellied black snake as it made their shoe its home. 

But Paul Smith, of Kiewa in Victroia’s north-east, now has two quite unusual claims to fame. 

Mr Smith, of Supergoat media, was working in his home office last week when he heard a high-pitched squeal and discovered a snake entangled in his grape vine, biting down on a frog.

The photographer leapt into action to capture the moment. 

“It was all fine until the snake put the frog down on a branch and squared up and started looking me square in the eye,” he said. 

“Then it was time for me to leave.”

Only days later, Mr Smith, an apparent glutton for punishment, heard the rustling of leaves near his front door and set out to investigate.

“I saw a little snake going along the leaves so I asked my wife to keep an eye on it while I went to get the camera,” he said.

When he returned, Mr Smith found the red-bellied black snake had comfortably curled into his gardening shoe. 

Despite their attempts to flush the snake out and regain ownership of Mr Smith’s shoe, the snake refused to budge. 

“He poked his head out more or less looking like how I look first thing in the morning,” he said. 

Mr Smith said he waited about 30 minutes, camera in hand to try get footage of the snake slithering out of its new home, but the snake wasn’t moving. 

“I gave up, put the shoe on a shovel and carried it right down the property away from the house and neighbours,” he said.

The next day, on Sunday, a brave Mr Smith armed with a piece of bamboo was able to reclaim his shoe from the bottom of the garden – the snake long gone.

Mr Smith said he’s lived on his Kiewa property for 13 years and has noticed an increase in snakes this year.

He said the reptiles were a fact of life in the country and other than taking photos, he was happy to leave them alone.

“They mean no harm,” he said.

But Mr Smith said from now on he would be checking his shoes for snakes “every damn time”. 

The Border Mail