Snake shocker in park (From Redditch Advertiser)

Snake shocker in park

4:49pm Wednesday 15th November 2006 in News

A 5ft long snake found in Arrow Valley Park this afternoon is not native to Britain.

Countryside centre staff say the Northern Pine snake, which is not venemous and orginates from North America, was probably dumped there.

Jim Addis, of Winyates, took a picture of the reptile in the arms of countryside centre supervisor Adrian Collingwood, who collected it from the Peace Garden.

Mr Addis said: "I hate snakes.To me it looked like the most venemous thing in the world."

The snake was put in a box and later collected and identified by Central England Reptile Rescue.

Countryside centre manager Nick Martin said the Northern Pine was not commonly kept as a pet.

"Somebody obviously doesn't want it anymore and has dumped it down here, presumably in the hope that somebody will find it," he said.

He urged people not to dump their pets in the park.

"We just don't want unwanted pets or wildlife," he said.

"There are lots of dogs and lots of dangers. If they're not wild animals, they'll suffer. The snake probably would have been killed by a dog if we'd not picked it up first.

"Somebody would have taken that snake with no questions asked. It didn't need to be dumped."

Last month, two Muscovey ducks dumped at the park were killed by a dog.