A Cedar Creek woman is sharing a terrifying experience most would only expect to hear in a horror movie: a snake bite while using the toilet. Maria Jaimes, who lives near Bastrop, Texas, says she was bitten by a rat snake early one Sunday morning while sitting on the toilet in the dark.
Jaimes, who had woken up at 4:30 a.m. to use the restroom, didn’t turn on the lights. She was caught off guard when she felt something unusual and realized that the snake had bitten her on the leg.
“It was a very scary situation,” Jaimes recalled. “It was a Sunday morning at 4:30 a.m., and everything was dark. I didn’t even know what was happening until I felt the bite.”
In disbelief and concerned that no one would believe her story, Jaimes took photos of the snake still coiled beneath the toilet seat. “As scared as I was when this happened, I took these pictures because I knew no one would believe it,” she said.
Jaimes suspects the snake entered her home through a vent on the roof. To prevent a similar incident from happening again, she had her husband secure the vent with wire mesh.
“I just want people to know this can happen and that they should be aware,” Jaimes told KXAN.
How Often Do Snakes Appear in Toilets?
We reached out to Alan Brown, technical director at ABC Home and Commercial Services, to understand how common this type of encounter is. Brown, who has worked in pest control for 25 years, said such incidents are extremely rare.
“Snakes coming up through the toilet is not something that happens frequently,” Brown explained. “In my 25 years in pest control, I’ve never dealt with it personally, and I don’t know anyone who has. It’s one of those things you might come across online, but I would say it’s more of an urban legend in most cases.”
However, Brown acknowledged that it is possible for snakes to end up in toilets. “They can enter through the vent stack on the roof, where they hold their breath and make their way down. They can also enter via the sewage system, especially if there’s a break in the lines or if there are rats in the sewer,” he said. “In some cases, snakes just find their way inside through cracks or crevices while searching for water and may end up curling up in the toilet.”
While incidents like Jaimes’ are rare, experts recommend taking precautions to secure vents and check for any cracks or openings around the home that could allow wildlife inside.
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