WINNIPEG SUN (Manitoba) 09 September 07 Stray snake gives grandmother a rude surprise (Joyanne Pursaga)
Photo: Animal services officer Wilf Kieres displays a metre-long gopher snake found in a Winnipeg home. (Brian Donogh)
A Winnipeg grandma came face-to-face with her greatest fear this weekend after it slithered its way into her kitchen sink.
Lois Sweezey found a gopher snake in her Fort Garry townhouse about 8 p.m. Thursday.
"My mom is absolutely terrified of snakes. That's her worst fear. She had the guts to grab it and run out of the house with it. It's amazing what adrenaline can do," said daughter Dianna Magee, while Sweezey was out of town for the weekend.
Magee said her 69-year-old mother was so frightened of the nearly metre-long black- and silver-coloured reptile draped over her counter, sink and toaster that she couldn't wait for experts to move it.
She feared it would hide in her home, then pop up to surprise her.
Magee said Sweezey first thought the animal was a rubber toy placed in the sink by a family member as a joke. When it moved, she quickly grabbed the ends of the reptile with a tea towel and pot holder and ran out of the house.
"I have never seen her so shaken up," said Magee.
The city's animal services agency, which soon arrived to pick up the snake, said the creature may have hidden behind a freezer in the Beaumont Street home for a few days, curled behind the condenser coils to stay warm.
Sweezey's cat had stared intently behind the freezer for about 2 1/2 days prior to the discovery, knocking over jars and canning items nearby. The reptile did not come out until the cat was banished to the basement for its strange behaviour.
Tim Dack, chief operating officer of animal services, said workers arrived at the home to find a healthy gopher snake between 76 cm and 91 cm in length, with a slight build.
Dack said the city answers about six to 10 snake calls a year. He believes this snake may have been the escaped pet of a neighbour.
Magee said the family believes it entered the unit through a gap in the dryer vent insulation.
Dack said the creature was a non-poisonous, common house pet that is not native to Manitoba. Anyone who believes they may be the snake's owner can call animal services at 986-2155.
Local snake expert and owner Vern Ruml, who previously owned Ruml's Reptiles, said snakes have popped up in several Winnipeg homes over the years, often when new homeowners discover the lost pet of a previous tenant.
One even emerged from a couch after it had been sold to a used furniture store.
Ruml said gopher snakes are a hardy species that can survive with little attention.
"Snakes have been known to go as long as a year without a meal," he explained.
Stray snake gives grandmother a rude surprise