{"id":2243846,"date":"2026-11-07T06:20:57","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T03:20:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2243846"},"modified":"2026-11-07T06:20:57","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T03:20:57","slug":"snake-in-a-drain-in-basildon-gives-workers-a-fright","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2243846","title":{"rendered":"Snake in a drain in Basildon gives workers a fright"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/0416\/live\/a9446800-d9fa-11f1-84c1-dbcae60402d7.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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\"SouthSouth Essex Wildlife Hospital<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The python is being cared for at South Essex Wildlife Hospital after it was found in a drain<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Engineers got “the shock of our lives” when they opened up a drain to find a hissing snake staring back at them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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An Essex and Suffolk Water crew encountered the snake while repairing a leak at Vange in Basildon, Essex.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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They stopped work to avoid disturbing the animal and called South Essex Wildlife Hospital to collect it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“We see all sorts when we’re out repairing leaks, but a python was definitely a new one,” said a spokesperson for the water company.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The workers came across the snake on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“We’d just set up the site when we started hearing hissing coming from the meter chamber,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“We very cautiously lifted it up and got the shock of our lives when we saw a 3-4ft (0.9-1.2m) python staring back at us!”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“No idea how it got in there, but we’re pleased that it’s now safe and being looked after.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"EssexEssex and Suffolk Water<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Engineers heard a hissing noise and lifted a hatch to reveal the snake<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Volunteers from the wildlife hospital at Orsett came to collect it and confirmed it was a non-venomous carpet python, native to Australia and New Guinea, and probably a pet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Founder Sue Schwar said: “It’s just part of the daily jobs that we get thrown at us. We’re ready for anything, really.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She said it was possible the snake had escaped, maybe down a toilet, or had been dumped somewhere.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“That does happen quite frequently. So, how it got down under the drain, we’ve no idea.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She said the snake, which has not been named, was “not very happy” when it was found.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“It was a bit dehydrated and really cold and it’s got a few injuries on it, so hopefully we can get it back to health,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“Then, obviously, if an owner doesn’t come forward we’ll be looking to try and find a home for it.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Do you have a story suggestion for Essex? Contact us below.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Follow Essex news on <\/i>BBC Sounds<\/i>, <\/i>Facebook<\/i>, <\/i>Instagram<\/i> and <\/i>X<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cvlydd1wrjx7o”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/0416\/live\/a9446800-d9fa-11f1-84c1-dbcae60402d7.jpg”] South Essex Wildlife Hospital The python is being cared for at South Essex Wildlife Hospital after it was found in a drain Engineers got “the shock of our lives” when they opened up a drain to find a hissing snake staring back at them. An Essex and Suffolk Water crew encountered the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2243846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2243846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2243846"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2243846\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2243846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2243846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2243846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}