TORONTO STAR (Ontario) 05 August 04 Next s-s-stop S-s-spadina: Snake sneaks into station - Worker tosses unwanted patron (Melissa Godsoe)
A TTC employee refused to be rattled yesterday morning when he spotted a snake at Spadina station.
Shortly before 5 a.m., the custodian was readying the station for the early-morning rush when he came across the 60-centimetre snake. It was slithering about in the upper level of the station, on Spadina Rd. north of Bloor St. The staffer thought that the orange and beige reptile, with a diamond-shaped head, was a harmless garter snake so he put it in a garbage bag and let it go outside.
Andrew Lentini, who works at the Toronto Zoo, said garter snakes are usually green, yellow and black, and this one was more than likely a milk snake, which are common to the area.
The non-venomous milk snake usually sticks close to ravines and valleys, but Lentini is not surprised that one found its way into a subway station.
Jason Hoogerbrugge, who owns Reptiles Unlimited, a pet business, said the snake was likely someone's pet and freed itself without its owner knowing it. "Snakes are escape artists," he said, adding that they can grow to be a metre long and have a girth the size of a toonie. "Whatever you put them in, they will find a way out of it."
Hoogerbrugge said milk snakes are timid and spend their days hiding out in shady nooks or in woodpiles where they find rodents to feast upon. The only time the snake would become aggressive toward people is if it were hungry. "Being in the TTC, he's probably well fed and not aggressive at all," Hoogerbrugge said.
Next s-s-stop S-s-spadina: Snake sneaks into station