Woman woken from nap by three-foot snake trying to slither through bedroom window

Ellen Manning
Updated ·2 min read
4
The corn snake was found slithering through the window of a home in Basildon, Essex. (PA/RSPCA)
The corn snake was found slithering through the window of a home in Basildon, Essex. (PA/RSPCA)

A woman was given a fright as she woke up from a nap to find a three-foot long snake trying to slither through her window.

The corn snake was trying to get through the bedroom window of the home in Basildon, Essex, when the woman woke up to the uninvited guest and fled, shutting the door behind her.

She called the RSPA who came to remove the creature - first having to hunt for it after it disappeared.

Rookie RSPCA officer Enola Evans, who had had only started rescuing animals a month earlier, had to search the house to find the snake, eventually spotting it coiled around the window's rim.

She said: "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."

The snake was eventually found hiding in the rim of the window. (PA/RSPCA)
The snake was eventually found hiding in the rim of the window. (PA/RSPCA)

She added: "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.

Read more: Police launch murder probe after woman in her 50s knifed to death and second woman also stabbed

"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."

Watch: RSPCA rescues 20 puppies abandoned in crate left in layby

The snake, which was captured on October 8, was moved into a carrier and taken to an expert boarding facility to be cared for until he could be reunited with his owner or put up for adoption.

It was found to be a corn snake, a non-venomous breed which people sometimes keep as a pet.

Last year, the RSPCA received 1,219 reports of pet snakes in need of help, including many stray snakes.

A high number of those calls were during the summer months as snakes become more active during hot weather.

RSPCA scientific officer Evie Button said: "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."