According to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, a woman from South Carolina woke up Tuesday morning and went to the bathroom of her apartment, only to find a big snake behind the toilet. The reptile wasn’t the woman’s pet, and it wasn’t a plumbing equipment.
According to an incident report, the woman yelled and shouted for assistance, which was a natural response to discovering a ball python inside a Columbia flat at around five in the morning. There was no information about the brown and black snake’s length or approximate age.
Deputies who rushed to Rice Terrace Apartments and Townhomes were able to remove the unusual animal, first putting it in a pillowcase, so neither the woman nor the snake were harmed, the incident report states.
“We were able to provide a solution to the resident quickly and save the snake’s life!” The State was informed by Master Deputy Alexandra Salrin. According to the event report, the only damage noted was a bathroom that flooded as a result of the snake, aside from maybe strained nerves. There was no information on how the snake caused the bathroom to flood.
The apartment building is located next to Ridge View High School at 107 Rice Terrace Drive, which is in the Columbia neighborhood between Hardscrabble Road and Longtown Road.
The incident report states that after calling a friend, the woman who discovered the snake called law enforcement for assistance.
After arriving at the residence, Community Action Team member Master Deputy Shannon Huffman “knew exactly what to do!” according to the sheriff’s office. Salrin claims that Huffman has been with the sheriff’s office for about 4 years.
Social media users shared Huffman’s efforts, The sheriff’s department is frequently called to an animal-related incident, but Salrin says it’s uncommon to have to help with situations involving exotic animals like snakes.
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“This was definitely a unique call for service for us,” Salrin stated.
According to Salrin, deputies are prepared to handle a range of scenarios, regardless of how unexpected the call may be.
“We prepare our deputies to expect to be called to incidents that they never expected to be dealing with and our deputies are trained to assess the situation and determine if there is another agency or specialized unit that needs to assist,” Salrin stated. “Thankfully, in this situation, (Master Deputy) Huffman has experience with a variety of animals and was comfortable dealing with the snake.”
How the snake got into the flat is unknown to the sheriff’s office. Because of the size of the snake, Salrin said there is conjecture that the snake is someone’s pet and may have escaped from another unit in the complex.
According to Salrin, one of the operations deputies from the sheriff’s department took the snake home, so it won’t be left on its own.
