Man finds snake alive in brand new kitchen appliance
When Barry Downes arrived home from his post-Christmas shopping, he was just looking to relax and have a cup of tea with the kettle he had just bought.
What he didn’t expect was something alive slithering out of the appliance box and into his kitchen.
Downes, from Paddington, London, purchased the kettle from department store Argos on December 28.
“I made a cup of tea and went to sit down to drink it,” said Downes.
“When I came back into the kitchen I spotted something on the floor.”
At first, Downes thought it was a piece of string or plastic packaging due to his sight problems.
“I picked it up to put it in the bin, but then it started wriggling.”
He then trapped the snake under a saucepan lid and called the RSPCA for assistance.
The RSPCA identified the reptile as a young corn snake. Animal collection officer Ella Davies, who collected the snake, said it might have snuck into the box at a storage warehouse in the country.
“Corn snakes are talented escape artists, so I suspect this little one has escaped from a vivarium somewhere,” said Davies.
The unharmed snake will be transferred to a specialist centre before being relocated to a “proper” wildlife habitat.
An Argos spokesperson said, “We’re surprised to hear about this incident, and are investigating with the supplier.”
Meanwhile in Australia, a snake horrified shoppers as it snuck into a car grill in a shopping centre parking lot. Queensland also saw nine people getting hospitalised for snake bites in one night in December.