A couple were left shocked after discovering a 5ft python in their bedroom.
The yellow snake was removed by West Midlands Police after it was found wrapped around a vanity mirror at the couple’s home in Quarry Bank, Dudley.
Police said the couple, who had no idea where the reptile had come from, explained that they had a big item delivered the day before, but were not sure if the snake had been hiding in the box or if it had slithered in through a pipe.
The RSPCA would usually handle this type of incident, but nobody from the rescue charity was available when the call came in to police just after 10pm on Wednesday.
Student officers Police Constables Bethan Pinnock, Lucy Corles and Riane Hazel went to the couple’s home and were sent to a front bedroom where they had closed the door to keep the snake inside.
After a long search, the snake was found on top of a cabinet wrapped around a vanity mirror.
The officers used batons to carefully lift the snake, which was about 5ft long, and put it in a shoe box with holes in.
The officers contacted Manor Vets in Halesowen, who agreed to take the snake in overnight until the RSPCA were able to have it.
A vet told the police it was a mature female python.
Police said the snake had a few lumps and old injuries, but was very friendly and was generally otherwise in good health.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here