Woman’s relaxing bath interrupted by slow worm
The Bristol woman thought he bathroom was being invaded by a snake.
A woman’s bath was interrupted when she saw what she thought was a snake slithering out of an air vent above her.
RSPCA officers were called to a home in Bristol to deal with the unwanted intruder – which in fact turned out to be a slow worm.
Ellie Jones, an RSPCA animal collection officer, said: “I think I’d have almost drowned if I’d have been lying in the bath enjoying a relaxing soak when I spotted a slithering snake in the vent above me.
“Luckily for this lady, what she thought was a snake turned out to be a harmless slow worm.”
Ms Jones was able to slide the slow worm out of the vent and free it into a nearby field.
“It was a slightly tricky rescue as we had to free him with the bathroom lights switched off,” She said. “When the light was on it activated the fan in the vent and we didn’t want the slow worm to get injured. Thankfully I was able to wriggle him free.”
Though often mistaken for snakes, slow worms are in fact legless lizards.
They are widespread throughout Britain, growing to around 40cm in length, and can be distinguished from snakes by their smaller size, eyelids and flat forked tongues.
