Residents in a County Durham road have been shocked to discover a three-foot snake on one of many storage roofs of a home – however much more shocked to find it was somebody’s pet that had been lacking for greater than 12 months.
The RSPCA have been known as to an space in Spennymoor, County Durham, earlier this month after experiences {that a} three-foot-long snake had been noticed in a resident’s backyard.
Inspector John Lawson was despatched to the scene on March 18 after the shocked house owner stated the reptile was below a plastic recycling field.
The corn snake on the roof in Spennymoor (Image: RSPCA)
Despite scaring just a few Spennymoor residents, the snake had disappeared by the point the RSPCA inspector had arrived.
However, after a search of the world a resident noticed the reptile on prime of a close-by storage roof so the RSPCA officer got here to the rescue utilizing a sweeping brush deal with to save lots of the reptile.
The RSPCA has confirmed that the snake was really a pet who had been lacking for a few yr.
“I think it came as a bit of a shock for the resident when they found a snake in their garden and they did the right thing trying to keep an eye on it,” stated RSPCA inspector John Lawson.
The corn snake after it was rescued (Image: RSPCA)
“But they’re nice escape artists and the pet quickly managed to slither off.
“I had no idea where she had gone until someone spotted her on the garage roof. There were a lot of squawking crows around so I suspect one of them had picked the snake up and then dropped her when they realised they had bitten off more than they could chew.
“After I rescued the snake a resident living nearby came over and was delighted as it was her missing pet from a year ago called Agnus.”
The garage roof that the snake was trapped on (Image: RSPCA)
He added: “I was gobsmacked that the reptile had survived so long as snakes aren’t able to produce their own body heat so they rely on their environment to maintain their body temperature.
“If snakes become too cold they may be unable to feed or move normally, and their immune system will not work properly to fight disease, meaning the animal can become very ill and often die.”
After discovering the snake and managing to rescue it safely, John took the corn snake to a vet for a check-up and he or she was discovered to have a respiratory an infection from being outdoors within the chilly and was handled for this.
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Mr Lawson added: “The vet believes Agnus had gone into brumation mode (similar to hibernation) and her body had shut down to survive.
“It is amazing that she survived for so long without heat – and also survived after a crow had decided to try to fly off with her.”
The corn snake has made a full restoration in RSPCA care and as a consequence of a change in circumstances his proprietor determined to permit the animal welfare charity to rehome her.
