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Snake on loose in Buncrana
08.07.10
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by Caoimhinn Barr, Inishowen Independent
A BUNCRANA couple got the shock of their lives when
they discovered a writhing snake at their back door.
Sean and Mary McGrory were left stunned by the
three-foot long slithery predator, which made a
temporary home under wooden decking in the back
garden of their Millfield home.
“I glanced out the patio door and I saw what I
thought was a child’s toy; it was bright orange,
yellow and black. When I looked again I saw it move
and I realised immediately it was a snake. I was so
shocked,” Mary said.
Sean opened the door and the unwelcome visitor
immediately bolted below the couple’s wooden
decking, where it remained for a number of hours;
occasionally popping its head up through a gap near
a drainpipe. |
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The frightened couple
closed all their windows and doors before ringing a
local radio station for help.
“We wanted to see if someone had lost their pet; we
didn’t know if the snake was poisonous or what we
should do. We won’t relax until it is caught,” Sean
said.
Mary said she would not go out to the back garden
again until the predator was apprehended.
It is believed that the reptile is a Mexican Pueblan
milk snake, which has a base dark orange colour with
distinct rings or bands of black and yellow.
It is an egg-laying species of non-venomous snake
commonly bred in captivity and found in several
colour variations. When handled, it discharges a
pungent smelling odour as a presumed defence
mechanism.
Comfortable in confined spaces, Pueblan milk snakes
will feed on anything they can overpower including
mice, rats, birds and frogs.
The snake is still on the loose, presumed to be in
the Millfield area of Buncrana. |
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