Exeter woman finds snake in her washing machine

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51-year-old Wendy Foley from Exeter got more than she expected when she went to remove the clean clothes from her washing machine, she was greeted by a slithering serpent’s forked tongue.

Mrs Foley was actually in the middle of removing the washing from the machine when she spotted the 5ft-long reptile coiled up in her drum.

“The washing had been through a full cycle and was ended, so I was going to put more washing in. I opened the glass door at the front and I saw something. I took it be part of a pair of jeans and then I wondered if it was a toy snake that children use.” Mrs Foley told the Daily Mail.

“But then it poked its tongue out at me. It was horrible and quite big. It was just lying there on the washing”

Mrs Foley and her two sons Tom, 18, and Ed, 21 called the police and then fled from the house in fear.

Police told Mrs Foley that she should call the RSPCA, and they told her to keep the washing machine door shut as they would be round to remove the reptile the following day.

“I called the RSPCA and they said they would send someone around but it wouldn’t be until the next day. The boys and I waited outside the house for a while because we were so scared. Then they went to bed and I just sat on my bed all night absolutely petrified.” Mrs Foley explained.

“I kept thinking that it would get out and also that there could be more than one in the house. I hate snakes. They scare me and I have absolutely no idea where this one came from.”

The snake was eventually identified as a harmless, non-venomous corn snake, a common pet which is native to North America but is practically domesticated in the UK through captive breeding.