Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe July 23 (UPI) -- A Virginia man discovered an uninvited snake inside the bowl of his toilet and the escaped serpent was later reunited with its owner. James Hooper said in a Facebook post that the he spotted the snake poking its head out of the toilet of his Virginia Beach home and he suspected it swam up through the pipes. Advertisement "When I saw the tongue of the snake, I was like, 'wow'," he said. "We've had snakes in the yard, but not in the toilet," Hooper told WTKR-TV. Hooper and his roommate, Kenny Spruill, tied a noose at the end of a fishing pole and used it to move the snake to a bucket outside. Virginia Beach Animal Control said the officer summoned by the roommates thought the call was a prank, but arrived to find a real snake. "I don't recall ever having a call or hearing of one for a snake that was actually found in the toilet," Virginia Beach Animal Control Supervisor Rebecca Franklin said. "[It] is one of those things where you think, 'it can't actually happen,' but now it has." Advertisement The snake was identified as a domesticated ball python and was later reunited with its owner, who said the serpent had been missing for about two weeks before they saw Hooper's Facebook post. Read More Snake slithers across Kansas couple's doorbell camera Dog alerts Florida family to rattlesnake behind the house Texas man finds chimney-climbing snake in fireplace Man finds snake eating his wife's lingerie in bedroom