TOILET TERROR

A 2.5­metre long snake was discovered on Thursday, August 3, in Almeria by a family in Pujaire in their toilet. Like the stuff of nightmares, a family spent 24 hours in panic after they discovered a snake in their bathroom, battling to remove the snake from the toilet.

Julia Callejón, who returned from a trip to Malaga went to the bathroom and upon lifting the toilet lid, discovered the reptile in the toilet bowl. "It wrapped around the bowl several times", she explained, “I grew up in Cabo de Gata and have seen snakes, but brown ones, smaller than this one, I’ve never seen something like that”.

Callejón contacted her family and neighbours for help but no one was able to extract the snake. Luckily, an environmental technician who was called to the situation was able to remove the snake from the home.

The family speculated that the snake had entered through the sewerage system as they live in the countryside.

The Montpellier snake is a common reptile in the Cabo de Gata­Níjar Natural Park. It is a venomous opisthoglyphous that is not dangerous to humans. However, it is an aggressive and active snake that feeds on small mammals such as birds and rabbits. When threatened or cornered, it may raise its head like a cobra, hissing loudly before ultimately attacking and biting in self­defense.