WINNIPEG SUN (Manitoba) 05 January 06 Snake's Fate Up In The Air Bylaws May Stop Adoption (Ross Romaniuk)
It's slithered into the safety of the city's animal pound, though it's unclear whether an exotic-looking snake can get set for a full adoption.
The municipal animal services agency hasn't determined whether the metre-long serpent -- apparently a Central American milk snake found at an Exchange District warehouse on Tuesday -- is even allowed in Winnipeg under federal and city regulations.
"We strongly suspect it's a common milk snake and therefore non-poisonous, though that needs to be confirmed," Rand Parker of the Logan Avenue pound said yesterday.
A herpetologist is expected to examine the black, red and gold-banded reptile this week.
No customers at Easy Access Self-Storage -- where the snake was found by staff on a concrete floor -- have come forward to claim the serpent. The University of Manitoba appears willing to take it if its original owner isn't found.
"It's a beautiful snake," said Beverly Horn, a U of M zoology instructor, after seeing the reptile -- which a city police officer says appears to come from the Honduran milk species -- in a Winnipeg Sun photograph.
"If no one owns it, certainly the U of M would be interested in having it," she added. "Oh, yeah. Better that than it gets killed."
Snake's Fate Up In The Air Bylaws May Stop Adoption