Must be log grabbing tongs for a wood fired grill. They probably wouldn't have even grabbed tight enough. Shoulda grabbed a shovel and chopped it's head off.
You then need to dispose of the head. A neighbor chopped off the head of a small pacific rattler at his grandsons birthday party. He then reached down to grab what he thought was a harmless dead snake head. The head pulled a 180 and latched onto his wrist. He had to receive 40 doses of antivenin and barely survived.