March 12 (UPI) -- An Australian woman said she received a shock when a live snake slithered out of a bag of potatoes she bought at a grocery store.

Marissa Davidson said she bought the sealed bag of potatoes from the Woolworths Park Beach Plaza store in Coffs Harbor, New South Wales.


Davidson said she opened the bag in her kitchen and was removing potatoes when the snake slithered out of the bag.

She said she threw a laundry basket over the snake when it moved toward her 5-year-old son, who has a congenital heart defect.

Davidson ended up killing the snake, which was identified by experts as a mildly venomous marsh snake.

Woolworths said in a response to Davidson's Facebook post that the incident is under investigation.

"We're very concerned to see what you've found in your bag of potatoes. As you're aware through your contact with our Advocacy team, this has been passed on to our quality team for their immediate attention," the reply said. "Thank you for taking the time to let us know about this and once again we apologize for your experience."