Grahme Jenkins said he was driving with Poochie over the levee at Lorn on Saturday morning when he saw a giant snake sunning itself.

Mr Jenkins said he was telling his story to alert dog walkers to the dangers of snakes in the area.

“It was a long snake and it reared up at the car as we came towards it,” he said.

“Then it turned around and looked at me  and I could hear it hissing.”

Mr Jenkins at first thought it was a tiger snake.

But someone at Reptile Rescue Rutherford later told him it would have been an eastern brown snake – an even more deadly reptile.

“This one was so big it was something like a python and I could see distinct rings around its body,” Mr Jenkins said.

“It was so long its body stretched from head to tail end right across the track marks made by four wheel drive vehicles. 

“In the car with Poochie beside me, I chased the snake down the riverbank.

“I didn’t let Poochie out of the car even though he was pretty excited.

“Then we stopped and I watched the snake slowly slither into some undergrowth.”

Mr Jenkins said he had been walking his dog along the riverbank at Lorn for several years and he was alert to the dangers of snakes in the summer months.

“But I have heard stories previously from several dog owners who lost their pets to snakes,” Mr Jenkins said. “People walking their dogs there should be really careful now.”

The eastern brown snake is the species responsible for most snake-bite deaths in Australia, according to experts at the Australian Reptile Park.

But with the advent of efficient first-aid treatment and anti-venom, there are usually only one of two deaths a year.

“A large adult brown snake is a formidable creature,” the park’s website says.

“These snakes may exceed two metres and on hot days can move with surprising speed.

“They feed mostly on small mammals, particularly rodents.

 “Although brown snakes are temperamental and dangerous creatures, they will always try to avoid confrontation with humans if possible.”

READ MORE: Snake warning