A red-bellied black snake stops for a rest. Source: Facebook

The red-bellied black snake was curled up in the sheets on one of the beds at a childcare centre in the Mornington Peninsula yesterday morning, right before it was time for the children to take a nap.

Snake Catcher Victoria’s Barry Goldsmith said one of the workers was taking the sheets off the bed when the snake fell out in front of her.

“They weren't scared, they handled it really well,” he said.

Red-bellied black snakes are certainly venomous, but not as toxic as a brown or tiger snake.

“They are very gentle and tolerant,” Mr Goldsmith said.

The snake could have slithered through an open door or a crack and the snake catcher said they were attracted to different scents.

“It’s possible a child had been eating a sandwich in the cot, which could have attracted the snake,” he said.

While a snake in a cot sounds alarming, Mr Goldsmith said he had been to a huge number of schools and childcare centres to remove snakes.

“They are very common in schools and childcare centres,” he said.

“They’re places where you have kids and kids drop food and attract mice, which then attract snakes.”

When the childcare workers found the 60cm snake, they left the room and closed the door.

“It’s illegal to kill snakes and illegal to interact with them in any way,” Mr Goldsmith said.

“If you want a snake gone, you need to ring a snake catcher, and keep a visual of the snake until the catcher gets there.

“Usually only somebody who has interacted with the snake will be bitten.”

Mr Goldsmith said people shouldn’t fear snakes and said the population of them had decreased in recent years.

“There are less snakes now than there ever was and if you wanted to go out looking for a snake in the wild you’d be hard-pressed to find one,” he said.

“They haven’t got the room, whenever we build a freeway or a housing estate, the snake moves out.”