ANITA Johnson couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw a brown snake curled in front of her door, ready to strike.

The Newcastle mother, and her two young sons, were effectively held captive in their house when the deadly reptile refused to move on.

“It was banging its head on the door,” she told Fairfax.

“I am not worried, it can’t get in, but it was aggressive.”

Mrs Johnson said she initially thought the sound was being caused by a magpie she’d seen hanging around the house.

She managed to rein in her horror long enough to record a short video of the snake, which now has hundreds of views on Facebook.

She told the Newcastle Herald that while her one-year-old son was terrified, her five-year-old excitedly wanted to look up the snake in his book.

“You’re a lot calmer than I would have been. It makes my skin crawl just thinking about it,” her friend Kate Van Doesburg commented on Facebook.

“I literally would have died,” agreed Jayde Maree.

“OMG! I heard about this on the radio this afternoon. Just shows how bad this summer is going to be,” said Michelle Earl.

Last month, snake catcher Lockie Gilding told news.com.au the best thing to do if you spot a reptile in your yard it to leave it alone.

He has seven years of snake-catching experience, and said he only relocates reptiles if there is a high risk to people or pets.

“We only relocate if people are really worried about them,” he said.

“There are a lot of snakes in our area, most people live alongside them and have no idea they’re there. Leave it alone, give it time and they’ll move along on their own.

“For the most part you’re pretty right leaving them to their own devices, but if you’re worried about it absolutely call a snake catcher.”

While Mrs Johnson’s visitor was extremely venomous, Mr Gilding said people often panic about relatively safe snakes.

“Even when we do ID them as harmless for people, a lot of them still want them relocated. It’s just a fear-based thing that a lot of people don’t understand.

“They’re fine to have around if you give them space.”