A rural snake catcher could not believe his eyes when he saw an image of an eastern brown snake stealing a sausage right off a barbeque.

But after being assured by his best friend, who took the image, Newcastle reptile controller Geoff Delooze now believes the image is authentic, and it is no fake snake

Mr Delooze told Daily Mail Australia he had never seen anything like the image, which was taken at a picnic on the Blue Mountains, on all his years on the job.

The bizarre image shows an eastern brown snake eating a sausage whole straight off a barbeque

‘I couldn’t believe it. My best mate took the images from a picnic he was having. Otherwise I would have had trouble believing it was real,’ he said.

The ravenous reptile reportedly appeared in front of a large picnic, snatched the snag then disappeared back into the bush.

‘Snakes usually avoid people at all costs. I think what’s happened is that this one had grown so big-it looks over two metres long from the width of the head-that it had developed somewhat of an attitude.’

Mr Delooze said he contacted some American Snake research teams, who confirmed it was not unheard of for snakes eat outside of their natural diet.

Snake catcher Geoff Delooze said he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the picture, which was taken by his best friend

The image was taken at a picnic in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney

‘They said they had heard of some python eaters feeding their snakes chicken and things like that. So I guess it’s plausible.’