BELFAST TELEGRAPH (Northern Ireland) 06 October 07 Ulsterman has a hissy fit at finding snake in wardrobe (Victoria O'Hara and Linda McKee)
Mystery surrounds the origins of a two-foot Mexican black snake that surprised a man when he opened a wardrobe in a house in Whitehead.
The man, who has not been named, is reported to have ran out of the house after the hissing snake gave him "the shock of his life".
The snake was then beaten with a stick and the man rang the police in Carrickfergus for help.
A police spokesman confirmed the incident took place.
"He reported he had killed a 2ft-long snake and the police collected the remains of the snake and transported them to Environmental Health," the PSNI said. The remains of the mysterious snake were kept in a freezer in the environmental health department of Carrickfergus Borough Council as scientists attempted to identify the species. It has now been identified as a young Mexican black king snake, considered harmless to humans.
A spokeswoman for Belfast Zoo said the Environmental Services department at Carrick Council sent photographs of the dead snake for them to identify whether it was poisonous.
However, she said the experts were unable to carry out a positive identification through the pictures.
A spokesperson for Carrickfergus Borough Council explained why the animal was kept in a deep freeze while officers attempted to identify it.
"Photographs were taken when we got it. We extended it as long as we could and took photographs for length and width," she said.
"But it was starting to decompose a little bit, so we put it in the freezer rather than throw it out. We decided to hold onto it in case it could be identified. We have it frozen in a designated place."
Last night, John Kiley, press officer at Carrickfergus Police Station, said the snake had now been taken to City Reptiles, where it was identified as a young Mexican black king snake.
"It's harmless to humans and eats bugs and things," he said.
No-one will be prosecuted over the death of the animal, police said.
David Wilson, from the USPCA, said finding a snake in your home would be a frightening experience.
However, he added there are ways of dealing with the situation without killing the reptile.
"Of course it would be a bit of a shock to roll back a mattress or look under a sofa and find a snake looking back at you," he said.
"But there are other courses of action that would have been open to him without killing it. The first thing that is best to do is secure it, so come out of the room and shut the door. Then make your phone calls.
"We ask people to pick up the phone, call the police, call ourselves or call the zoo. Call any agency that is used to handling reptiles."
Ulsterman has a hissy fit at finding snake in wardrobe