Snake video goes viral for Hay couple

In Short

• Viral Scare: Hay, NSW local Peter Hutchison found a highly venomous Eastern Brown Snake coiled inside the cabin of his excavator.
• Overnight Sensation: His wife, Sheree Doidge, posted the 15-second video to TikTok, where it has already surpassed 916,000 views globally.
• A True Blue Reaction: Instead of panicking, Peter's Australian response was to film the encounter, turning a terrifying daily event into a viral internet hit.

A video posted to social media platform TikTok by Sheree Doidge, has made her husband Peter Hutchison an overnight sensation.

A typical morning at Peter's job on a property outside of Hay, NSW suddenly became an international sensation this week, proving once again that when you live out bush, the mundane can be terrifying—and hilarious—when viewed through a phone camera.

He was preparing for a day's work in an excavator when he spotted an uninvited co-pilot: a highly venomous Eastern Brown Snake coiled inside the cabin.

The reptile had snuck into the cabin and become lodged under the foot pedals of the heavy machinery.

Instead of panicking, "Hutchy" did what countless Aussies do when confronted with an unbelievable situation: he pulled out her phone and started filming, sending the short video back to his wife.

Sheree promptly shared it on TikTok, and at the time of writing the 15 second clip had been viewed by more than 916,000 users.

The video clip is disarmingly simple, which is exactly why it rocketed up the global charts. There are no special effects, no dramatic music, and no fancy editing—just pure, uncut rural reality.

"He's a bit scared," Petr says in his narration. "Scared the sh*t out of me." The rest of the video is expletive heavy, given the shock of seeing the trapped reptile, and realising it was lashing out between where Peter sat and the door to freedom.

In a digital landscape saturated with overly polished, staged content, the raw, relatable authenticity of Shezza’s video struck gold. The TikTok algorithm, which favours genuine surprise and high engagement, quickly pushed the clip past local borders, first across Australia, and then into the feeds of millions across the world.

For the global, urban audience, the video is compelling for two main reasons.

First, it feeds into the beloved, slightly exaggerated "Australia is trying to kill you" narrative.

For international viewers who only know Australia through wildlife documentaries, realising a snake is capable of popping up anywhere, even inside a piece of heavy machinery confirms all their wildest fears about the Outback.

It's a perfect example of Australian danger delivered in a tiny, digestible clip, narrated by a truly Aussie character.

The couple have already been contacted by media companies, including LADBible Austraila, for the rights to re-share the clip.

Mr Hutchison called a workmate to help remove the reptile but it had injured itself under one of the excavator pedals, and did not survive.

Watch the vide HERE - (language warning)