Police in Western Australia have captured a snake deftly manoeuvring its way up a wire mesh barrier.

The video showed up on Twitter earlier this month, and showed what was believed to be a brown tree snake navigating a fence, appearing to barely grip the wire it as it climbed vertically upwards.

An officer finishing their shift in the remote Kimberly region of Wyndham located the intruder, describing it as an “end of shift surprise”.

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“That was my first thought but I stared almost certain death in the face and locked up the gate! #crimeprevention,” the officer commented in response to one user who advised to “run”.

Brown tree snakes are nocturnal and have a reputation as skilled climbers.

They are venomous, but don’t usually go for people.

If they were considering it you would know – they launch themselves into a series of s-shaped loops when threatened.

See a video of the athletic feat below

Snakes On A Gate #ivehaditwiththesesnakes #endofshiftsurprise #fb pic.twitter.com/ncIR5VVE8z

— WyndhamPol (@WyndhamPol) February 2, 2016

It was not the station’s first run in with a massive snake and followed a huge reptile spotted in November.

You don’t see that in Perth! Why did the snake cross the road? To get to the other s-s-s-side… #kimberleycritters pic.twitter.com/WTZpI7sFCG — WyndhamPol (@WyndhamPol) November 21, 2015