(from Snake Farm by Ray Wylie Hubbard)

 

Yesterday, the Portage la Prairie School Division had an unexpected visitor.

A good-sized garter snake was found curled up in a toilet bowl.

Superintendent Todd Cuddington says Albert Patenaude discovered the reptile. He adds it's not that unusual.

"Apparently there have been snakes found in the sump pit in the basement in the past," he says. "But it's the first time, certainly, that it's ever appeared in the toilet. We've seen snakes around the Division office many times before. They tend to find their way under the main steps, and we'll see them slithering in the grass in the spring time, but this is a little early."

Cuddington says the building's age may have been a factor in the animal gaining entry.

"The building was built in 1894, so it's an old structure," he says. "Because they were in that sump pit, there's a possibility that they may have slithered down a drain, and come up that way, but it's a bit of a mystery."

Cuddington stresses it posed no danger.

"It's a standard garter snake -- a big one -- you can see from the photo he's a fairly large guy, so he's been around for a while," he says. "And it's just a matter of keeping a watch and having our operations checking those pits a little more regularly to make sure we don't find any more."

Cuddington says the snake was re-located safely.