WINNIPEG SUN (Manitoba) 30 March 06 Rescue of scaly reject - Snake abandoned among used furniture
This snake was almost as skinny as it was scaly after being abandoned in a Kenora home.
Animal control officers in the Northwestern Ontario city were called to a residence last week after a local man stumbled upon a metre-long snake while picking up some used furniture he had bought. The owner of the reptile, which was later identified as a candy cane corn snake, had apparently abandoned it when he moved out of town a couple of weeks earlier.
Randy Smith, animal control officer with the Kenora Police Service, said he's not used to picking up snakes.
"It was one of the stranger calls we've ever dealt with," he said.
"All we knew was it was abandoned in an apartment; they didn't tell us it was in a cage. Fortunately, it was."
Corn snakes, which are found throughout the southeastern and central U.S. and parts of Mexico, are non-poisonous and one of the more common pet snakes. The snakes, which grow to about 1.5 metres in length, can live up to 30 years in captivity.
After being taken to a local veterinarian, the abandoned reptile was adopted by snake lover Brent Harvie.
Harvie, who previously owned an albino Burmese python and a ball python before moving to Kenora in February, said the corn snake was starving by the time it was found.
"It was pretty skinny. It wasn't showing signs of dehydration but I think if it was left there a bit longer it would have," he said. "You could feel the rib cage and backbone very, very easily. They were standing right out."
The snake -- which will be named either Simon or Simone once its sex is determined -- devoured two dead mice and drank water continually once Harvie and his aunt took him home.
"He ate right away, as soon as we got to the house. He wasn't shy about it," said Harvie. "It drank for a good 10 minutes straight and then kept coming back to the water all night long."
Harvie said his aunt is already starting to bond with the snake.
"He's fine, he's very friendly," he said. "He's everything you could want in a snake."
Smith said no charges have been laid against the snake's previous owner at this point.
Rescue of scaly reject