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Welsh man finds exotic snake coiled around boiler

By Ben Hooper
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Oct. 13 (UPI) -- A Welsh man who feared there was a rat inside his home investigated the sound and found something far more unusual -- an exotic snake wrapped around his boiler.

David Dawes of Swansea said he heard a sound upstairs at his home Tuesday and thought it might be a rat, so he went up to investigate.

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"At about half past nine I heard a movement upstairs. I was concerned that it might have been a rat," Dawes told Wales Online. "When I opened the airing cupboard, I instead found what turned out to be a Taiwan beauty rat snake."

Dawes said in a Facebook post he was not enthused by the RSPCA's advice.

"So, I just found this fellow curled up on my boiler. RSPCA have just said to close the door and hope he finds his way out. I am decidedly unchill about this course of action," he wrote.

Dawes said a friend suggested the serpent was likely an escaped pet, so he again consulted with experts and decided to attempt to capture the animal.

"Following a second call to the experts, I took their revised advice; donned my thickest flannel shirt and a pair of gardening gloves, and went in to say hello," he said. "Unfortunately, my new friend was awake by now, and didn't appreciate being grabbed -- but beyond trying to scoot up the curtain, he quickly settled into a lock top box which I took downstairs."

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"After an uneasy night, I took him down to World of Aquatics, an exotic pet shop just at the end of my road," Dawes said. "They quickly identified him as a Taiwan beauty rat snake, and very kindly took him in."

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