Rare snake found stimulating worries it ‘got away zoo’

A dogwalker was offered the shock of his life when he found an uncommon snake wriggling around main London.

Chris Kutler, 59, was walking along Regent’s Canal towpath close-by London Zoo when he saw the three-foot-long Aesculapian snake in the yard Thursday.

His dog had actually been smelling around the dark grey reptile along the bank and he feared it might be poisonous.

‘The dog stopped to look at something and I thought, “what’s that,” and it was a snake,’ Chris said.

‘I thought it might be an adder or grass snake but it was much too big for that.

‘I realised I was next to the zoo and thought maybe it’s gotten away from the zoo.

‘I was quite mesmerised by it but didn’t understand if it was dangerous.’

Chris said he telephoned a friend who understands all things snakes and was informed it was a safe Aesculapian, likewise called a rat snake.

London Zoo said that the snake did not leave from the zoo.

Aesculapian snakes can frequently be discovered wriggling up trees and stashed in bushes along the canal in spite of being non-native to the UK, being initially from southeastern Europe.

Out of all the snakes residing on the continent, they’re amongst the biggest, with one discovered to be more than 2 metres long.

The snakes are called after the Greek god of medication, with one twisted around a rod being a sign of medication and health care.

A nest of the non-venomous Aesculapian snakes have actually resided in the Camden dock location of north London for many years, thought to have actually gotten away from the zoo.

‘London Zoo, any chance of you missing a snake?’ someone tweeted in 2015 after finding a regional Aesculapian.

‘There is one on the side of the canal, north walkway, and people are stopping to have a look.’

Two other nests reside in Wales, one in northern Colwyn Bay and another believed to remain in Bridgend, south Wales.

Experts tension that there actually is absolutely nothing to fear as they are totally safe to animals and human beings alike.

An RSPCA representative said: ‘There is a small population of non-native Aesculapian snakes in the Regent’s Park location of London.

‘They are not venomous and if anyone sees them, it’s finest to leave them alone and not attempt to select them up.’

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