Corn snakes turn up in the oddest places...

News article I just found from Yahoo News 'Odd News' section:

Ala. Woman Finds Snake in Post Office Box 1 hour, 58 minutes ago


A typical early morning trip to the post office turned into a frightening experience for a Dothan ENT employee when she found a live corn snake hiding under the mail.

The non-poisonous snake, measuring between two and three feet long, slithered into the business post office box that Jean White regularly checks, sending her screaming hysterically for help.

"I reached in there and got some mail, and when I reached back in, I saw it under my mail. I saw its tongue," White said. "I screamed and I hollered and I screamed and hollered some more. Then I started hollering 'snake!'"

She said it took a few minutes for employees to figure out who would remove the snake from the post office box.

After removing the snake, employees called Dothan Animal Control, which disposed of it.

"In my 33 years working with the postal service, I thought I had seen just about everything, but I've never seen or heard of anything like this happening before," postal employee Steve Simmons said.

He said he did not know how the snake got into the post office box but speculated that it came from outside, seeking a warm, dry place.

He said he does not believe it was a prank.

Interesting.. Haha, I would have been surprised but happy to see it there. Dispose does mean set it free in this case, right??

would have loved to see her face when she saw it lol. meh i shouldnt be mean i got some fears myself.

Chris Steele said:

Dispose does mean set it free in this case, right??

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I've no doubt they set the little guy free somewhere on the outskirts of town. Animal control would have no cause to snuff out it's life merely for it's intrusion into the domain of the U.S. Postal Service.

It is unfortunate that over the years I've heard too many people talk about killing snakes that merely turn up in their back yards. This without even bothering to identify whether it is poisonous. (Not that I condone the killing of poisonous snakes, but I can understand it if a person's child is normally playing in the back yard)

For far too many people, fear of snakes is very real and it is a common human failing that that which we fear and/or do not understand, we must destroy. It was the same thinking which wiped out the wolf populations from the lower 48 states with few exceptions.

My girlfriend's mother, who holds a PHD and teaches at a local college is deathly afraid of snakes. Obviously it is not solely the uneducated or unintelligent people who fear them. Ignorance exists within people from all walks of life.

Erik

over here in the UK because we don't really have that many types of snakes as far as I'm aware we only have crass snakes and a type of worm with a mouth what i can never remember the name off. this is good because it means people don't see many of them in fact about 9/10 people over here wont even see a snake in the wild other than from a zoo. but anyway the point is snakes don't get killed over here but people still fear them. i think schools should have like an animal unit. sorry if this offends some people but schools over here teach french and German lessons right? i mean its now just turned optimal so you don't have to do it if you don't want to and guess what only about 2 students out of around 400 want to do the language lessons. i think they should not have an option to totally not do language and miss a unit meaning you get an extra free period but i think they should do a unit called "animal care" animal care is tought in colleges but not high schools. meaning that you wont actually learn anything about snakes unless you have one or no someone who has one. this is a Major disadvantage i no loads of places that have loads of snakes are the same as over here and don't teach animal care. this means when people see a snake they freak out because they don't no what to do. most react like you always see on TV and horror movies and run

i think if schools tought about the animals that are in the wild in there country's instead of these language lessons people might take a lot of interest at an early age. i mean if you got tought what snakes are harmfull and what snakes are not for example. people wouldn't automaticy go and hit any old snake on the head with a spade would they.

meh stupid thing really just thought i would bring that up.

sorry about going off topic hope you can see what im saying i dont think i worded it that good.

Hey

I grew up in eastern Washington. I was afraid of snakes. PERIOD! Don't forget BATs. I remember being about 7 YEARS OLD and having a Bull Snake in my garage! My sister wanted to throw rocks at it, destroy it. I wanted to open the garage door and hope it would escape.About the same time there was a bat family that lived in the peak above our front door way, I remember my dad comimg home to "scare them away w'/ a broom" so that us kids could pass "safely". If my memory is right, my dad came home and put the snake a bucket then let it go. When I was about 9, I was at Roosevelt lake and had a baby rattlesnake cross over my arm as I was getting warm on some rocks(after swimming all day), my mother freaked out! And proceeded to tell me how "close I came to death" In my memory it hurt a hell of alot more to fall into some cactus while trying to keep up with my sister! Snakes are just friendly reminders of how paronoid we are. Some Can Some Can't. PERIOD. Treat all with respect and you may recieve the same

Well i guess dothan has something to be famous for besides the big Golden peanut in front of the Chamber of Commerce, and the fact that there the peanut capital of the world. Having lived there once while working on there hospital there. I can assure you that its the most exciment they have seen around there in years.

Lots of good places for corns around there great big ol feilds full of peanuts for the rodents to eat on lined with thick woods around there.

Bubbles said:

over here in the UK because we don't really have that many types of snakes as far as I'm aware we only have crass snakes and a type of worm with a mouth what i can never remember the name off.

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As well as Grass snakes we also have the Smooth Snake (which is rare) and the Adder (which is venomous, but rarely fatal ... and it's also pretty uncommon).

The other one you're thinking of is the Slow Worm which is actually a legless lizard. They live in compost heaps a lot of the time and are actually really good to have one living in your garden as it eats a lot of common garden pests like slugs and snails.

There was a Corn Snake turned up in a cereal box in a supermarket in the UK not long back. That caused a bit of hysteria at the time. I'm sure someone posted the story up on here actually .....

yeah i remember a post box thing a wile back i lauged when i herd of it. but eah slow worms thats the one i can never remember there names i found one once on the path unfortunatly it was dead though .

Why can't I be lucky enough to find a snake in my mail box???

Knight_errant said:

The non-poisonous snake

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Does this bother anyone else? Every time I hear somebody refer to a snake as "poisonous" or "non-poisonous" I just want to go give them a swift kick to the head!!! :grabbit:

^^^ that was from the article by the way.... I don't think knight_errant needs kicked in the head

TrpnBils said:

Does this bother anyone else? Every time I hear somebody refer to a snake as "poisonous" or "non-poisonous" I just want to go give them a swift kick to the head!!! :grabbit:

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colinmcc said:

... the Adder (which is venomous ...

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I shall consider my head 'safe' from kicking .....

Yes, it bugs me. too. I cringe every time I hear a snake referred to as poisonous.

man, i'd be freakin' thrilled if i went to get my mail, and there was a corn snake waiting there with my male. he woulda been coming home with me.

TrpnBils said:

^^^ that was from the article by the way.... I don't think knight_errant needs kicked in the head

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Well, I thank you for that. Though I noticed I used a similar sentence in the second post. Doh!

Someone please kick me in the head! :bang:

Sheesh! I know better than that.