'Mum, there's a snake in the bath'
Aug 14 2006
Lauren Turner, South Wales Echo
Having a bath will never be the same again for a family who discovered a SNAKE in their house.
Bethan Smith, 13, got out of bed in the middle of the night to get a drink from the bathroom. While she was washing her face just before 1am yesterday, the teenager saw the 18-inch-long
corn snake lying in the bath - which she immediately thought was a fake snake set up by brother Lewis, 16, to scare her mum Lyn. But Lyn, 50, who has a phobia of snakes, had her worst fears confirmed when her children saw the animal wriggling around.
It then disappeared down the plughole, only to emerge hours later when Lewis was brushing his teeth. The part-time hairdresser, of Clive Street, Cardiff, said: 'I will never be able to have a bath again without thinking about this. 'I couldn't believe it when Bethan woke me up and said: 'Mum, there's a snake in the bath - I don't know if it's real or not. I didn't know if Lewis was playing a joke on me, because he knows I hate snakes. 'But he said it was nothing to do with him, and when they went to have another look, they saw it going down the plug hole.
'It was only the diameter of a 20 pence piece, but I'm amazed it could fit down there.' Her 80-year-old father-in-law Len, who lives next door, came to investigate later in the morning, only to find the brown and red snake had gone. But when Lewis started brushing his teeth, the serpent slid back into the bath.
The shocked family called the RSPCA, who advised them to close the door and block the bottom of it with a towel. They later took away the snake, which was to be inspected by an expert today. Bethan, a pupil at St Cyres School, said: 'I wanted to keep it, because I've had exotic animals like lizards before, but mum wouldn't let me. 'I wasn't scared, even though it did try to bite me.'
Earlier this month, a five-foot Brazilian constrictor snake and a poisonous scorpion were among animals that went missing from a house in Rumney, Cardiff.
Mum, there's a snake in the bath
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