A woman was awakened from a sleep to see a snake three feet long at her bedroom window. It tried to get into her home.
The reptile attempted to crawl into a house at Hereford Walk in Basildon, Essex while the woman was asleep.
The woman was shocked and ran out of the bedroom, closing the door, before calling the RSPCA.
Basildon’s corn snake seen on a window frame in a house (RSPCA).PA Media – RSPCA
Enola Evans, an RSPCA rookie officer who only began rescuing animals one month prior, was assigned to remove the animal.
“It’s not every day you get woken up by a snake trying to get into your bedroom through a window – the woman was terribly shocked,”She said.
“By this time, there was no sign of the snake at the window, so the resident gave me permission to search her bedroom, in case it had come inside and hidden somewhere warm.
“But after thoroughly checking bed linen, and other possible hiding places in the bedroom, the snake was still nowhere to be found.
“As the window had been open for so long, it was getting quite chilly in there, so I decided to shut it. That’s when I spotted something moving.
“It was the snake, coiled around the window’s rim. He had been very well-hidden, so I was really pleased to find him.”
It was a corn snake. This non-venomous, pet-friendly breed is often kept.
The snake, captured on October 8, was placed in a carrier and taken into an expert boarding facility. There, he was cared for until his owner returned or he was adopted.
Last year, 1,219 RSPCA reports were received about pet snakes in dire need of help. This includes many stray and feral snakes.
Because snakes are more active in hot weather, there was a high volume of calls during summer months.
Evie Button is a RSPCA scientist. “Snakes are excellent escape artists and will take the opportunity of a gap in an enclosure door, or a loose-fitting lid to make a break for it.”
Snake owners are urged to be vigilant, invest in an enclosure suitable for the species and make sure that enclosure is kept secure – and locked if necessary – when unattended.