In the social media footage a female snake catcher wearing long pants, top and boots is shown sitting and smoking a cigarette as the snake slithers towards her.

The snake goes under her outstretched leg, stops to "sniff her butt" and then slithers away as she gives it a thumbs up.

During the entire video the woman keeps smoking as she watches the snake pass by.

The eastern brown snake (also called the common brown snake) is the second most venomous in the world. They grow to about two metres long and the one in this video was around 1.6m.

"She got s**t for brains what if a young kid watching this I would sack her," one person posted to the business' Facebook page.

Another wrote: "Let's play Russian roulette with a brown. I've seen a video of a bloke staying still and a red bellie [sic] comes up road and bites him on the toe".

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Someone else likened the act to how "Steve Irwin trusted an animal he loved too". The Wildlife Warrior died in 2006 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb.

Harrison's Gold Coast and Brisbane Snake Catcher posted the video, and owner Tony Harrison said it was aimed at educating people and dispelling myths that eastern brown snakes "chase" people.

"If she'd jumped up and ran around that snake could have felt threatened and defended itself," he said.

Mr Harrison said if a snake suddenly appears beside you that you should remain still.

"Stay still until it starts to leave and then get up and walk away. Try your hardest to leave it alone," he said.

The advice for if you see a snake in the distance - leave it alone. Most snake bites occur when you're trying to kill or move a snake.

To the naysayers on social media, Mr Harrison had one message.

"We bust our kahuna trying to educate people. The reality is smoking was the most dangerous thing in that video," he said.