Now that it has been rescued, the wayward reptile holed up in a Victoria storm drain has been confirmed as a harmless corn snake.
It is believed the snake was a pet that managed to wriggle away from home.
The snake was freed from its underground home Thursday and sent to Victoria Animal Control Services, 564 David St., for safekeeping.
There is a 96-hour waiting period to see if anyone comes forward and can prove that the snake belongs to them. Animals that are not claimed are typically put up for adoption.
The snake was discovered Aug. 17. City crews were using a video camera inside a pipe at Quadra Street and Balmoral Road to check for a soft spot or sinkhole. They found the snake instead.
There were fears the snake might be injured or get stuck in a smaller pipe, so rescue efforts began right away, said Mike Ippen, the city’s manager of utilities operations.
“It wasn’t where it should be,” he said. “It doesn’t live there, and the idea was to grab it while we could.”
The snake garnered a lot of attention, Ippen said. “It has been a bit of a distraction from regular work, that’s for sure.”
City of Victoria utility crew workers spent a total of 40 hours wrestling with the snake dilemma. That cost comes to $1,500 and other staff hours are still being calculated, said spokeswoman Rebecca Penz.
Although early reports said the snake was trapped, it was in fact just picked up by municipal staff. Dead mice were used as bait.
“The utility guys opened the manhole and the snake was kindly sitting there waiting to be grabbed,” Penz said.
Getting the snake out of the drain meant the creature could be measured. “It’s just a couple of inches under five feet, is what I was told,” Ippen said.
Corn snakes are slender and can be 24 to 72 inches (61 to 182 centimetres) long, the Smithsonian National Zoological Park says on its website.
They are found in the eastern United States, and are most abundant in Florida and the southeastern U.S.
Their bellies look like checkerboards, with alternating black and white marks. These markings are similar to the appearance of the pattern of kernels on maize, thus leading to the name corn snake.
Corn snakes easily climb trees and will go into abandoned buildings to find prey, but spend most of their time underground prowling through rodent burrows, the Smithsonian said.
