MILTON KEYNEWS TODAY (UK) 18 January 07 Snakes alive! Well, almost...
There was little likelihood the snake RSPCA officer Andy Eddy had been asked to recover from the garden of a worried householder would give him the slip.
Or for that matter give him a nasty bite. Especially when he found the sinister looking black reptile was made of plastic!
Animal collection officer Andy was called to the house in Crosslands, Stantonbury, on Tuesday where a woman was terrified after spotting the serpent in a hedge. She was told to leave it alone until help could arrive.
"Even though we only have four animal collection officers in the whole Bucks and Oxfordshire are we will always help out where we can," said Andy.
"Snakes are excellent escapologists and we get called on a regular basis to strays.
"Once we were called out to a snake to find it was a Western Diamond Back Rattlesnake – one of the deadliest in the world. So in this instance I was quite glad it was plastic!"
The embarrassed lady who called Andy in wishes to remain anonymousssssssssss!
Snakes alive! Well, almost...