Rosemary Elliott-Jones was on her morning constitutional by Lake Canobolas recently when her 10-month-old dog Bouddi jumped over a snake on the verge of the pathway.
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"It looked like a stick, but then I realised it was a tail," she said.
The tail was attached to a two-foot-long juvenile snake that was frozen still.
"It was just around the lake on the southern side, it's a bit marshy and it was before the bridge, on the right side of the track," said Ms Elliott-Jones.
"Bouddi just jumped over it, and I was so relieved it stayed still and didn't attack.
"If I'd realised what it was I wouldn't have let Bouddi jump over it, but it was just suddenly there.
"I stood and watched it for a while and took a photo and it didn't move."
Ms Elliott-Jones said Bouddi was on a lead, and showed no interest in the snake, even as she stood and looked at it.
"He was sniffing elsewhere, totally oblivious; he's only 10 months old, only a little fella, but it was a bit scary."
She can't be certain if it was a brown snake or a red-bellied black snake: "Hard to say, I wasn't going to roll it over to see if it had a red belly."
As she continued on her walk, Ms Elliott-Jones warned a man coming the other way with a dog off its lead about what was ahead.
She has vowed to return, but for now she's taking Bouddi for walks closer to home and leaving the lake to the snake.
"I like to walk around there; it's really nice, but people should be aware."
Ms Elliott-Jones reported that according to the position of its head, the snake was on its way into the scrub.
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