Snake surprises journalists in Aussie newsroom

A video of a plucky journalist calmly removing a gigantic snake from behind a computer has gone viral in Australia.

The heart-stopping encounter was filmed and uploaded to Twitter by Kate Limon of Nine News Darwin.

A cameraman at the Darwin office of the national news broadcaster spotted the huge reptile lurking behind a computer in the editing room on Monday afternoon, local time.

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While you'd be forgiven for thinking the best course of action was to flee the building, and possibly burn it to the ground to be safe, the journalists handled the situation like true Aussie battlers.

One intrepid employee uses a coat hanger to fish the wriggling snake out from behind the computer with a sang-froid which rivals that of the famously cold-blooded reptile.

Limon later identified the heroine as the team's programme manager, whom she describes as a "wildlife warrior".

She "wasn't scared at all," Limon told NT News. "In her bloody floral dress and heels - she put us all to shame." The snake was apparently safely released into the bushes outside the office.

Limon couldn't resist a joke at the expense of Nine's tabloid rival - well known for its pun-heavy coverage of snake or crocodile attacks - tweeting that while NT News might put snakes on their front page, "we catch them in our office".

However, NT News refused to be impressed: