A "sizeable" brown snake has caused a scene in the middle of Canberra, becoming the focus of a rescue operation after slinking through the centre of the city.

Key points: Snake catchers say they have "never" seen a snake so close to city

Snake catchers say they have "never" seen a snake so close to city Onlooker says some pedestrians tried to kill snake

Onlooker says some pedestrians tried to kill snake The animal was rescued and released into bushland

Shoppers on Bunda Street outside the Canberra Centre were alarmed when they found the reptile slithering along the busy pedestrian area.

Emma Carlson from Canberra Snake Rescue and Relocation attended with her partner Luke to remove the animal.

She said the snake was between 1.2 metres and 1.5 metres long, which was "really big" for a brown snake.

Snake catchers were called to Bunda St on Sunday afternoon. ( Supplied: Adil Iqbal )

"He was out the front in a spot that was adjacent to two restaurants, so they were very busy as you can imagine on a Sunday in Civic," she said.

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"It's certainly not something we get every day … we've never been called to Civic before.

"A member of the public actually called us. He did mention to us that some people were trying to kill the animal, which is a real shame and very dangerous obviously."

Ms Carlson said the animal was frightened by the dozens of onlookers and had sought refuge in a small garden bed, making its rescue more difficult.

"When snakes are really scared they just want to take refuge so with just that little area it doesn't take much for them to get a good hidey spot," she said.

"Luke was stomping around in there for quite some time."

Eventually the rescue succeeded and the snake was released into bushland.

Ms Carlson said anyone who came across a snake should keep their distance.

"The safest thing to do is obviously be calm," she said.

"Do give them their space — you want to be a couple of metres back from the animal — certainly not trying to kill it, that's a very bad thing.

"It's unnecessary, and that's the highest instance you have of getting yourself bitten."