Gosport Police and the community in Gosport have rescued a snake that had slithered into the wheel arch of a police car.
At around 1pm today, a police officer stopped at a shop on Forton Road when he saw “a very large snake slithering across the road” directly in front of him.
PC Biggs says: “On my way back to the station I briefly stopped at Tesco Express on Forton Road.
“As I was driving out of the car park, I saw what I can only describe as a very large snake slithering across the road directly in front of me.
“I immediately jumped out of the police car and stopped another vehicle from entering the car park, preventing it from running the snake over.”
The snake disappeared underneath the police care Credit: Gosport Police
The police officer describes himself as not a snake person and says he has no idea how to handle snakes.
He continues: “The snake completely ignored my enthusiastic arm waving and continued slithering across the car park towards the police car. As I watched, the snake disappeared underneath the car.”
The corn snake then climbed into the wheel arch and within seconds wrapped itself around part of the undercarriage.
PC Biggs says “fate intervened” because a man who owned a reptile shop walked past and helped.
A local garage also helped and lent the police officer a car jack to raise the vehicle.
Another member of the community arrived with a dead mouse to tempt the snake out.
He continues: “Everyone seemed determined to help rescue our unexpected passenger.”
“Unfortunately, the more we attempted to reach the snake, the deeper it wedged itself into the undercarriage.
“A quick call to Boarhunt provided additional assistance, allowing us to lift the vehicle even higher.”
The front wheel had to come off along with several other car parts. But after some cable ties were added, the snake was successfully extracted.
The snake has been taken to a vet for a check-up and suffered no injuries.
The reptile is now being looked after at a local reptile centre, and police are asking who owns the snake to get in touch.
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