A red-bellied black snake measuring one and a half metres was seen slithering from the Cook Park footpath into a garden bed in a house opposite the crossing near the front gates of Cook Park yesterday afternoon.

Orange Police contacted snake expert Greg Pringle who caught the snake and drove it out to release it into bushland on the outskirts of Orange.

“He could have been disturbed by all the activity in the park,” Mr Pringle said.

“But it’s hard to tell where he came from - although he was probably looking for water,” he said.

Mr Pringle estimated the snake to be between three or four years old.

He said the snake could grow to a maximum of two metres and  is venomous.

“But certainly not as much as an Eastern Brown,” he said.

In captivity the snakes are known to live as long as 25 years.

However, Mr Pringle said in the wild this type of snake usually only has a life span of around eight years due to natural predators in the wild and the chances of being run over if they move