SYDNEY - A mother failed to spot the danger lurking at her daughter's feet as she took this photo of the two-year-old child in Australia.

Bianca Dickinson was crouched down and focusing on daughter Molly as a deadly eastern brown snake slithered its way through the fence.

"I guess I was focused on her so I didn't see anything else… Then I saw this flash and I just thought it was bark coming off the tree. When I looked up it was already halfway past, I could see the tail between Molly's legs. I think it was touching her boots it was that close," she told news.com.au after the incident on Wednesday afternoon (March 29).

Dickinson said she has been unable to sleep since looking at the photograph at her farm in the state of Victoria.

The snake is considered to be the world's second deadliest land snake, after the taipan, according to reports.

Dickinson, a mother of four, took the photograph at the end of a long driveway which leads to her home near Kaniva, a small town. "Molly and I were near our mailbox, so I crouched down and looked at her through the lens," she told news.com.au.

After spotting the snake, she said, she froze to let it pass - and "luckily (Molly) copied me".

She said she then shook with fright and later checked her phone, realising that the snake appeared in three images.

"It was horrifying - luckily it was over in seconds," she said. "I checked her for bite marks still."

"We know that they are out there but I guess we don't have them come that close to us… Every time I shut my eyes, I see that big snake and what could have happened. I see Molly being taken away in an ambulance."

Dickinson added: "Molly looked at the photo when I showed her and she just said, 'that's me'. (She) has no idea what happened, which is good."