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4-Foot Long Snake Slithers Out Of Toilet On Staten Island
By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 14, 2012
Modified Mar 14, 2012
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Mar 14, 2012
Modified Mar 14, 2012
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via SILive.com
Toilet snakes—we've seen them from time to time in the city, and recoil in horror at each new tale. In the past there have even been 7-foot pythons. So the latest snake encounter over on Staten Island is no surprise, but it is equally horrifying. According to SI Live, Allen Shepard went to use his bathroom at 6:30 a.m. and thought he saw something in the toilet—turns out it was a 4-foot-long California Kingsnake (which is non-venomous, and could have been someone's escaped pet in the apartment complex).
Shepard says, "I came out [of the bathroom] and closed the door and I got a broom. The snake was getting up on top of the rim, ready to strike." He struck the broom and "wouldn't let go," so Shepard sprayed it with Clorox Greenworks, which had absolutely no effect on the snake (noted).
He was eventually able to get out of there, so he shut the door behind him and called his super at the Bridgeview Apartments, who called the owner of the Mariners Harbor-based 1-800-CLOGGED Response Service Group. By the time they arrived, only 1-foot of the snake could be seen coming out of the toilet, but eventually they pulled the entire thing out and stuck it in a cooler. It's unclear what happened to the snake after this point.
So what's worse: finding a rat in your toilet, or a snake?
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toilet snake
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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