John Culatto
A MAN in Spain’s Andalucia got the shock of his life when he saw a snake that was over a metre long trying to eat his pet in his patio.
The man heard a huge bang coming from his patio in Algeciras, a port city in Cadiz province, and came out to see what had happened.
To his horror he saw the snake of over a metre trying to eat his pet bird after throwing down its cage to the ground.
Experts believe the large reptile was a horseshoe snake that lived in nearby wasteland.
In a panic, the man killed the snake to defend his pet from being eaten.
Vets believe the horseshoe snake, as well as other reptiles, rats and cockroaches breed in the area around the railway and at the site of an old factory.
Judges at the old criminal court building of the Palacio de Marzales adopted a similar horseshoe snake in the same city.
But in this case, the workers at the building welcomed the animal.
A serious rat and insect problem in the ageing building made the snake very useful for exterminating the pests.
The Junta de Andalucia regional government commissioned new criminal courts to replace the old building that could be ready by 2024.
Although the horseshoe snake can be aggressive to human beings and has been known to bite when it feels threatened, it is not poisonous.
Growing to a size of 1.5 metres, it is normally found in gardens or living in walls of older buildings, normally on the outskirts of urban areas.
It’s appearance this Thursday is not so unusual as April, May and June is when snakes come out of their nests to search for food and mate.
The most poisonous snake in the Andalusia region is the long-snouted sniper but it is rarely seen outside the deep countryside.
But beware of killing snakes you find. They are protected species and killing them is a crime.
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