A mother got the ''fright of her life'' when her daughter said her washing machine was making a bizarre noise - only to discover a 17-pound boa constructor inside the drum.

Mother finds 17-pound boa constructor in washing machine

Mother finds 17-pound boa constructor in washing machine

Oliveria, 46, lives in Salvador, Brazil, was petrified in case it was a poisonous snake.

She said: ''When I opened the lid, I got the fright of my life because there was a snake wrapped around the drum with its head poking out.

''I was so scared because I could see the snake was huge. Its body was thick and muscular. I was terrified it might be dangerous.''

Concerned, Oliveria called local services, but they didn't seem to bothered and offered to send someone around next day to check it out.

However, she couldn't wait that long so she asked her neighbour Joao Paulo Ribeiro, who was equip with the knowledge that it was not a deadly reptile, to remove the boa and did so with his bare hands, but it took 20 minutes because of the weight of fat creature.

He told Caters News: ''It was really wedged in and it was hard to lift out.

''It took me over 20 minutes to remove it and it was a struggle right until the end.''