A terrified family has spent nearly seven months living in their front room — because they fear a snake that invaded their home may still be lurking under their upstairs floorboards.
Seven members of the Hebden family, from England, have been sleeping together on camp beds in their living room every night since June 2015 because of the elusive one-metre-long reptile.
The yellow-and-green serpent — which was left behind at the house by a previous owner — was last seen slithering into a hole in the floor upstairs after biting the family's dog, Bear.
Now, Jackie Hebden, her husband, their daughter and their two sons and their respective partners have resorted to sleeping on the ground floor in a bid to avoid the snake. The alarm was first raised last June after Bear was bitten by the snake and left with serious injuries, including a blood loss, a swollen leg, bite marks and potential muscle damage.
Mrs Hebden believes the snake is now hibernating beneath the upstairs floorboards of their home. Officials at Plymouth Community Homes (PCH) and an RSPCA exotic animal specialist have looked for the serpent believed to be lurking in the Hebdens' home.
However, attempts to trace the creature have so far failed. Steve Ford, from PCH, said: “There has been no evidence of a snake at Ms Hebden’s home.”
“We have taken specialist advice from both the RSPCA and other exotic animal experts on how to entice an escaped pet snake out of hiding — we have acted fully on that advice, but no snake was found.
Source: www.mirror.uk
