Snake surprises mom in bath
September 21 2007
A young mother was in the bath with her baby when a 5ft python slid out from under it. Leanne Smith, 18, screamed as it hissed at her and four-month-old Millie, reports the Daily Mirror. She scooped Millie into her arms and leaped over the snake which experts believe was ready to pounce. Leanne, who lives with boyfriend Ben Payne, also 18, in a council flat in Dartford, Kent, said: "It was huge and it just sat there hissing and looking at me. "I just screamed and screamed, which was probably the wrong thing to do as it started to hiss at me even more. "I jumped over it and called the RSPCA. They said it had probably got in through a pipe and was ready to attack me. "So I locked the bathroom door and waited for them to take it away." An RSPCA officer caught the royal python - a nonvenomous constrictor that crushes its prey - and a neighbour experienced in looking after large snakes is caring for it while the owner is sought. Ian Stephen, London Zoo senior reptile keeper, said: "It would have been more aggressive than usual because it would have been very stressed and afraid, cold, confused, hungry - and more scared of Leanne than she was of it."
Source: Ananova.com
