THE GAZETTE (Blackpool, UK) 26 September 08 Shock as snake found in kitchen
A Thornton man got the shock of his life when he went to the kitchen to get a cup of tea – and came face to face with a snake.
Alan Rice, 64, of Waring Drive in Thornton found the baby snake sat on his electric cooker hob on Tuesday evening.
He first thought the brown and black striped creature was a piece of string until he tried to pick it up.
The retired civil servant said: "I literally couldn't believe what I was seeing – I picked it up and it started squirming in my hands so I dropped it.
"I shouted to my wife Julia, and it started slithering towards the microwave.
"I grabbed a spatula to pick it up and managed to get it in a plastic tub. It was quite angry I'd disturbed it."
The snake, which RSPCA inspectors say is a non-venomous corn snake, is only very young and reaches about a foot in length when stretched out.
The species is native to America so how it came to be in Mr Rice's kitchen baffled inspectors when they picked the animal up on Wednesday morning.
Mr Rice said: "We wonder if we managed to pick it up with the fruit and vegetables we got from the supermarket? I can't imagine how it got in the house, let alone on top of the hob.
"It seemed as though it was trying to keep warm, we put the box in the sun this morning and it really came to life.
"It's certainly made me jump when I realised what it was, I never dreamed I would find a snake in my kitchen in Thornton."
Inspectors took the snake to be checked over by a vet and will eventually look to re-home it. They say it is likely the snake was kept as a pet and somehow escaped.
Nick Green from the RSPCA said: "The snake is only a baby but very lively, it actually bit me when I picked it up to put it in the tank.
"Their bites aren't harmful when they are so young, however.
"The snake will have been bred in captivity, maybe it escaped and was brought in by one of the family's pet cats. We get a lot of stray snakes, it isn't as rare as people think but we should have no problems re-homing this one."
Julia added: "I must admit when I heard Alan say he'd found a snake, I thought he must be dreaming. It has certainly become a bit of a talking point on the street though."
Shock as snake found in kitchen