First she snapped photos.

Then the 73-year-old Pennsylvania grandma smashed the snake dead with a shovel. Animal control says she slayed a 4.5 foot Asian cobra.

Kathy Kehoe said she knew instantly it was a cobra when she first spotted it on her patio. Birds were screeching outside at about 2 p.m. Monday when she stepped outside see why. "Oh, it's a snake," Kehoe told ABC 6.

"When I opened the screen door to see what kind of snake it was, the birds flew away and I saw the spot on its back, and I kind of nudged its tail and it came up and spread its hood and I said 'that's a cobra,'" she said.

The snake slithered away, but Kehoe chased after it.

"He went this way. I stalked him and when he got over to here, I tapped his tail. He went up and that's when I did the deed and held him there," she said.

The grandma said she wasn't about to let the cobra get away because of children in the neighborhood of Falls Township, Bucks County, 25 miles from Philadelphia.

"I was like 'this animal can't be here, it's a poisonous reptile,'" she said.

In March, officials removed 20 venomous snakes from a neighboring apartment, including 12 cobras.

Police told ABC 6 that it's unclear if the cobra in Kehoe's yard is connected to the March apartment raid.

While the tough grandma's actions were undoubtedly brave, a wildlife veterinarian advises against taking matters into your own hands, literally, when confronting venomous snakes.

Leave all venomous snakes alone and contact the authorities, Dr. Susan Tyson-Pello of the Mount Laurel Animal Hospital told ABC 6.

Cobra bites can be fatal is untreated.

READ MORE