By ninemsn staff
A Tasmanian cat has had a lucky escape after being found with a deadly copperhead snake coiled around its neck.
Nine-year-old Jelly was walking up the rear porch after wandering around near her Sorrell Creek home north of Hobart yesterday morning when owner Wendy Wallace noticed the serpent.
"Both the cat and the snake seemed quite happy," she told the Mercury.
"She didn't show any signs of a bite last night, but this morning she was almost paralysed.
"She's at the vet at the moment being pumped full of anti-venom, but the vet says she'll recover fully."
Ms Wallis said she hadn't seen any snakes on the property, but neighbours and previous residents had reported them on a regular basis.
Lowland copperhead snakes are commonly found in swamps and marshes in Tasmania and south-eastern continental Australia, and feed on frogs and lizards as well as smaller snakes.
The copperhead's neurotoxic venom is capable of killing an adult human if correct first aid is not applied.
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