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Snake no mistake: Australian fined for surfing with python

As if sharks were not already enough to worry about, an Australian surfer has been seen paddling out with a python coiled around his neck.

The intrepid surfer caused a stir on Australia’s Gold Coast after footage emerged of him carving through the azure waves while carrying his pet carpet python.

ALSO READ: Man nabs 5.7-metre invasive Burmese python

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But authorities said he did not possess a permit to have the reptile in public, and fined the man 2,322 Australian dollars ($1,500).

“To take an animal out in public or display it requires a separate permit,” Queensland’s Department of Environment and Science said Monday in a statement.

“Snakes are obviously cold-blooded animals, and while they can swim, reptiles generally avoid water.

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“The python would have found the water to be extremely cold, and the only snakes that should be in the ocean are sea snakes.”

PICS: Python rescued after being hacked with a panga released back into the wild

Carpet pythons are non-venomous snakes that can grow up to three metres (about 10 feet) long, and wrap around their prey and squeeze it until it suffocates.

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They mostly eat birds, lizards and other small mammals.

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By Agence France Presse
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