A South Carolina woman woke up Tuesday morning and went to her apartment’s bathroom where she was met by a large snake that was behind the toilet, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said.
It wasn’t a plumbing tool, and the reptile was not the woman’s pet.
An incident report said the woman screamed and called for help, an understandable reaction to unexpectedly finding a ball python at about 5 a.m. inside of an apartment in Columbia. Information on the length and estimated age of the brown and black snake wasn’t available.
Neither the woman nor the snake was hurt, as deputies who responded to Rice Terrace Apartments and Townhomes were able to extract the exotic animal, initially placing it in a pillowcase, according to the incident report.
“We were able to provide a solution to the resident quickly and save the snake’s life!” Master Deputy Alexandra Salrin told The State.
Other than possibly frayed nerves, the only damage reported was a bathroom that was flooded because of the snake, the incident report said.
The apartment complex is at 107 Rice Terrace Drive, in a section of Columbia between Hardscrabble Road and Longtown Road, near Ridge View High School.
The woman who found the snake first called a friend, then they both reached out to law enforcement for help, according to the incident report. Master Deputy Shannon Huffman, a member of the Community Action Team, responded to the apartment, “and knew exactly what to do!” the sheriff’s department said.
Huffman has been with the sheriff’s department for almost 4 years, according to Salrin.
Huffman’s efforts were shared on social media, While it’s common for the sheriff’s department to be called to an animal-related issue, it’s unusual to have to assist in incidents involving exotic animals such as snakes, according to Salrin.
“This was definitely a unique call for service for us,” Salrin said.
Despite the unusual nature of the call, deputies are trained to deal with a variety of situations, according to Salrin.
“We prepare our deputies to expect to be called to incidents that they never expected to be dealing with and our deputies are trained to assess the situation and determine if there is another agency or specialized unit that needs to assist,” Salrin said. “Thankfully, in this situation, (Master Deputy) Huffman has experience with a variety of animals and was comfortable dealing with the snake.”
The sheriff’s department doesn’t know how the snake ended up in the apartment. Because of the size of the snake, Salrin said there is speculation that the snake is someone’s pet and may have escaped from another apartment in the complex.
“However, that cannot be confirmed because no one has come forward” to claim the snake, Salrin said.
The snake won’t be left to fend for itself, as it was taken home by one of the sheriff’s department’s Operations deputies, according to Salrin.
