'Very scary': Texas woman says she was bitten by snake in her toilet
A Central Texas woman is describing something most people only have nightmares about — sitting on her toilet in the middle of the night and being bitten by a snake.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — A Central Texas woman is describing something most people only have nightmares about — sitting on her toilet in the middle of the night and being bitten by a snake. She's got the photos to prove it.
Maria Jaimes, a woman who lives near Bastrop, Texas, said earlier this month, she woke up early in the morning to use the restroom, didn't flip the lights on and felt something.
"The rat snake bit me in my leg when I sat on it," she said. "Very scary situation on a Sunday morning at 4:30 a.m. with lights off."
Jaimes didn't think anyone would believe her so she snapped photos of the snake, still coiled underneath the toilet seat.
"As scared as I was when this happened, I am the one who took these pictures because no one would believe it!" she said.
Jaimes said she believes the snake got in through her vent on the roof, so she had her husband put wire on it to avoid a situation like this happening again.
"I just want people to be aware this happens in real life and to be aware," she told KXAN.
How frequently does this happen?
We took that question to Alan Brown, technical director at ABC Home and Commercial Services.
"Snakes coming up in the toilet is an infrequent occurrence," he said. "In 25 years of pest control, I have never dealt directly with it or have anybody that I know of deal with it. It is something if you do an internet search, you will find there are occurrences. I think it's more of an urban legend most of the time but it does happen."
Still, Brown said there are multiple ways snakes can end up in toilets.
"One is through the vent stack up on the roof... They can hold their breath and come through the toilet. They can also come kind of through the sewage system — especially if there may be a break in the lines or rats in the sewer," he said. "And then in some cases, they just make their way into a house traditionally, through a crack or a crevice. Or [they] make their way in and are looking for water and curl up in a toilet, as well."
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