A missing pet python in England created an incredible survival story after her owner gave up hope that she could make it nearly three weeks after escaping.
A door accidentally left open gave the snake, Xanthe, a route out of the house after she first slipped through a small vent in her enclosure, the BBC reported. She was later found alive in a nearby rose bush.
Here's what to know
On Sept. 11, the 4.5-foot ball python owned by 23-year-old Jacob Edwards disappeared from his home in Bretton, Peterborough.
Later, Xanthe was found in a neighboring yard.
After his partner told him the snake had been spotted around the roots of a rose bush, Edwards rushed home from work.
"It completely threw me off, and I absolutely had no hope that she would still be alive nearly three weeks later," Edwards told the BBC. "... It was absolute torture trying to get her out of there, and the neighbour was terrified."
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He noted Xanthe left a trail that showed she had gone in the opposite direction when she left the house.
More background
"Ball pythons should be kept in enclosures with hot and cool zones, according to the RSPCA," the BBC reported, noting ideal temperatures are 24 to 32 degrees Celsius (75 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit).
"With the weather conditions, I did not think she would survive," Edwards said.
Escaped exotic pets are just one way humans encounter animals.
As temperatures climb, habitat shrinks, and land development continues, wildlife and humans are increasingly coming into contact, which endangers animals and people, as a separate BBC report detailed.
What can be done?
A vet examined the snake after she was disentangled from the rosebush.
Xanthe was diagnosed with septicemia and prescribed painkillers and antibiotics; the BBC described the illness as "a life-threatening bacterial infection of the blood."
"She beat all the odds outside, so I'm really hoping she can beat the odds with this as well," Edwards said.
Where can I learn more?
This is one of several surprising snake encounters around homes and yards.
• At another house, a missing pet snake turned up alive in the yard 18 months later.
• Inside a snake keeper's home, a wild western ratsnake was curled inside a substrate bag.
• Across the Mid-South, snake calls surged 50% as tiny home openings let them in.
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