GOLD COAST, Australia, Dec. 4  -- A man in the Australian town of Lismore says a snake more than 3 feet long was living inside a computer printer and caused the device to malfunction.

Denis Matthews said the snake was found inside a Friends of the Lismore Rainforest Botanic Gardens printer, the Gold Coast Bulletin reported in its Thursday edition.

"When I used a long pointer to encourage the snake to move, it reluctantly came out through the front, under the monitor screen and round the back of the computer case,'' Matthews said.

Matthews was able to remove the snake from the printer used by the group, for which his wife Marie serves as publicity officer, but the creature appears to have found its way back.

Matthews said a number of displaced objects have been found on the room's shelves, leading him to suspect the snake may be living somewhere inside the room.

The snake appears to be a nocturnal brown tree snake, a species known to be venomous and very aggressive if confronted, Matthews said. (UPI)