After returning from a grocery store with some food, the man did not notice he had brought home a snake until it had become accustomed to his diet.
Neville Linton, 63, purchased a bag of broccoli from an Aldi store in Stourbridge, England, last month. He kept it in his refrigerator and used it three days later to make a supper.But as soon as he opened the vegetables, the man noticed the unexpected visitor.
See how the experience unfolded by scrolling down, and make sure to catch our conversation about it with Dr. Steven J. R. Allain, also known as The Pop-Punk Herpetologist.
Somewhere in southwest Europe, a snake that was investigating a broccoli field was packaged and sent to a British store.
Neville, an industrial cleaner, was astounded by what he saw.
It was quite awful. He remarked, “I’m not good with snakes.” The broccoli would have been loose throughout the house if I had simply left it outside in the kitchen.
“With two vulnerable people living here, that would have been a huge risk for us.”
He called his sister Ann-Marie Tenkanemin for assistance after realizing the thing was too large to be a caterpillar, and she recognized it as a snake.
After popping it in a tub, the two returned to the Dudley Road Aldi where Neville had made the purchase.
At first, I believed she was kidding, but when I saw it move, I changed my mind. He said, “The guy in the shop was fairly scared too.
After the snake was brought to the local zoo, experts identified it as a juvenile ladder snake.
The reptile was brought to the Dudley Zoo, where its keepers think it is a juvenile ladder snake. But according to Dr. Steven J. R. Allain, who bored panda contacted, he tends to disagree.
Allain informed us, “After looking at the [real] picture of the snake in the broccoli, I’m not sure the zoo identified the species correctly.” “The snake appears to be a harmless fish-eating viperine water snake (Natrix maura), which can be found throughout southwestern Europe and northern Africa,” said the expert.
Allain holds a degree in zoology from Anglia Ruskin University, a master’s degree from Imperial College London, and is presently enrolled in the University of Kent’s Ph.D. program. He is interested in amphibian illness and population ecology, but his present focus is mostly on the population ecology of barred grass snakes (Natrix helvetica) and the consequences of ophidiomycosis.
It is not surprising to find a species from this region showing up in some vegetables that are probably grown there, considering that a significant amount of food that is farmed and imported into the United Kingdom comes from the Mediterranean region. The snake was probably crossing the field at the time, being caught up by farm machinery, and then hiding in the broccoli, in my opinion.
It took some time to travel to the UK and then to Neville’s house, but according to Allain, these snakes can survive for several months without food, and the refrigerator’s cooling effect would have helped the snake maintain a low metabolism, which lowers its body’s energy requirements.
“It couldn’t have been comfortable, though,” he continued. “In order to keep the broccoli fresh, especially the quick change from the warm Mediterranean climate to a chillier environment.”
“Water snakes that are venomous only pose a threat to fish or frogs.” They are said to be non-venomous to humans, and they would much rather pretend dead than bite people as a kind of defense.
“I understand that Neville was going through a difficult period at the time (particularly since he is afraid of snakes), but his response could have been more positive if there had been more public education about snakes and how to handle situations like these,” Allain remarked. “While the snake’s mishap at the wrong location shouldn’t have happened to it, maybe its new home at Dudley Zoo will help allay people’s fears of snakes.”
