Snakes in a Van!

­Two Jersey Telecom engineers got a late Halloween scare today when a four foot long snake made a surprise appearance in their work van.

James Denton and Morne Aspeling, who both work in JT's Mobile Access team, had spent the morning completing performance tests on JT's new mobile broadband network and were heading back to their offices in Minden Place when the surprise serpent made its appearance.

Mr Denton said: "We were pulling into the JT car park at Minden Place and I wound the window down to activate the security barrier. As I looked back across the dashboard to drive inside I saw the head of a snake poking up from the bonnet. Needless to say, it was quite a shock and it took me a moment to realise it was real. When its tongue flicked out and it moved again, we both made a pretty sharp exit from the van!"

The engineers kept a close eye on their hitch-hiking guest while immediately calling the Animal Shelter from their mobiles. Upon receiving the call, Jonathon Hudson, Animal Ambulance Driver, was sent to investigate. He said: "It's not everyday that we get a call to come and collect a live snake from a telecoms van, so I was curious to see what had been found. When I got there the snake was much bigger than I expected at a little under four feet long. I knew right away that it wasn't an indigenous snake so had to be an escapee pet. From its markings we think that it is a corn snake or milk snake, both of which are non-venomous, but that it's one of the albino varieties. Snakes don't do well in the cold, so my guess is that it was attracted by the warmth of the engine and crawled in there for shelter."

Once the snake had been safely removed from the van, it was taken to the Animal Shelter where the team immediately placed it in a special reptile friendly tank to help it warm up and get over the shock of its unexpected journey.

Mr Hudson added: "This is a mature snake that has been a pet for some time and has only recently escaped. We are very keen to see it re-united with its owner and anyone with information should get in touch by calling us on 724331. If an owner doesn't come forward, we have a number of contacts in the island who care for snakes and will be able to provide a good home."

Posted to the site on 3rd November 2009