An Australian woman was recovering Thursday after stepping on what she thought was her son's rubber snake -- it turned out to be a real snake, and venomous.

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Experts believe the snake that bit Nicole Haynes was an eastern brown, The Daily Telegraph reported. The species is considered the second-most venomous in the world after the taipan, also an Australian native.

Haynes, who lives in Winmalee in the Blue Mountains, said she had just put her 10-year-old son to bed and come into the hallway, where she saw the snake on the floor. She felt the bite first.

"It was surreal, I thought it was a toy with something sharp in it, like a pin, but then it wriggled," she said Wednesday.

She said the snake bit her foot and then latched on to her ankle until she managed to dislodge it. Her 17-year-old daughter called for help.

Haynes said the snake probably slithered into the house through a back door left slightly open for the family dog.