By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2024-12-20 16:43:37 | Updated at 2024-12-29 07:48:41
1 week ago
A Texas woman has shared her terror after she sat on her toilet seat and was bitten by a snake nesting underneath.
Maria Jaimes, from Bastrop, had wandered into her bathroom early on Sunday without bothering to flip on her lights.
As she sat down she recalled feeling a 'poking' sensation on her leg and assumed her husband had left something on the seat.
But as she turned on the lights, she was horrified to discover the creature coiled under the toilet.
Despite her terror she managed to snap a picture showing the rat snake poking out.
'Very scary situation on a Sunday morning at 4:30 a.m. with lights off,' she told KXAN.
'As scared as I was when this happened, I am the one who took these pictures because no one would believe it.'
Jaimes said she thinks the snake might have crawled into her bathroom through a vent which she has not boarded up with wire.
A Texas mom has shared her terror after she sat on her toilet seat and was bitten by a snake nesting underneath
'I just want people to be aware this happens in real life and to be aware,' she added.
However, Alan Brown, technical director at ABC Home and Commercial Services, said such occurrences are rare.
'Snakes coming up in the toilet is an infrequent occurrence,' he said.
'In 25 years of pest control, I have never dealt directly with it or have anybody that I know of deal with it.
'It is something if you do an internet search, you will find there are occurrences. I think it's more of an urban legend most of the time but it does happen.'
He warned that snakes can still make their way inside via the vent stack on a roof or by swimming up through sewage lines.
'In some cases, they just make their way into a house traditionally, through a crack or a crevice. Or [they] make their way in and are looking for water and curl up in a toilet, as well,' he added.
The creature was lurking under the toilet seat when Maria Jaimes went to use the restroom in the early hours of Sunday
Jaimes, from Bastrop, described feeling a 'poking' on her leg as she sat down
Texas rat snakes are subspecies of western rat snakes, a nonvenomous species of Colubridae found in central North America.
They usually grow up to six feet in length, but have been known to grow as long as eight and a half feet.
They are typically found in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
