Snake found in broccoli

I had to laugh at this one. The snake opened it's beady eyes.......
Then it's a "horseshoe snake" so named for its bite pattern. Maybe I should start eating broccoli.
__________________________________________________ ____________

A woman opened a bag of broccoli and found a live snake.

Tina Cosby was preparing tea for her family when she spotted the foot-long grey and black snake curled around the veg.

According to The Sun she said: "I took out the bag and put it on my kitchen worktop while I untied it.

"I was about to put my hand in to pull out the broccoli when I suddenly saw this snake inside. Its beady eyes opened and I threw a fit. It was staring at me and its little tongue was poking in and out.

"I was shaking and so terrified that I could feel my heart racing. I had to have a cup of tea to calm down - and then I felt sick."

Tina's husband David, 33, took the reptile to a vet in Halstead, Essex, where it is being kept.

Experts believe it is a non-venomous horseshoe snake.They can bite humans - leaving teeth marks in a characteristic horseshoe shape.

Tina complained to Tesco where she bought the veg and was sent an apology and £50 in vouchers. But she is seeking further compensation.

Bosses launched an inquiry to find out how the snake got into the broccoli, which came from Spain.

Tesco said: "This obviously caused a bit of a shock. Our suppliers are going to review quality-checking procedures to ensure this cannot happen again."

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_1787708.html

Experts believe it is a non-venomous horseshoe snake.They can bite humans - leaving teeth marks in a characteristic horseshoe shape.

I was all set to poke fun til I did a search - horseshoe snake (aka horseshoe whipsnake Hemorrhois hippocrepis or Coluber hippocreppis)
Coluber h. hippocrepis
(The horseshoe snake)


Coluber hippocrepis pair

Coluber hippocrepis lives in the southwestern corner of Europe and the northwestern part of Africa. Max. size is about 150 cm but adults are normally about 120 cm. It is one of the prettiest snakes of Europe, but especially the animals from Morrocco are very colorful. They normally prey on other reptiles, but will after a time in captivity accept rodents as food. Sometimes things can go wrong. On the picture above the female didn`t accept the mating attempt from the larger male and ate him.
These very active snakes present themself nicely in a terrarium with a large surface. The horse shoe snake prefer a hot and dry inviroment. They are not so hard to handle as many other Colubers, and a few gets more or less tame. Our animals were hibernated at 8-12 degrees Celcius for 3,5 months and copulations took place after their first shedding. The eggs and the hatchlings from our Northafrican horseshoe snakes were a lot bigger than the European animals. All juveniles refused to eat newborn mice and were force fed for 3-5 months. The horseshoe snake is protected in Europe under the Bern-Konvention.

link

Wow, I didn't even bother to search because it sounded rediculous. I still have to wonder if the bite pattern is actually where it gets its common name. After all they all leave horseshoe shaped makes if it's a full bite.

believe me Clay - my sarcasm was in full flow...the search was an afterthought

GAS!

Maybe we can entice our local grocers to start putting snakes in our broccoli?????

I remeber a big press fuss one year when a student allegedly found a tiny frog in his cafeteria broccoli.
Maybe broccoli is the new lottery, buy so much and win a free reptile....

On a positive note - at least they took it to a vet to be cared for instead of killing it.

Its like getting a toy with your cracker jacks! I wish I got snakes in my veggies.

It "opened" its eyes.
You know, I have been wondering about this. EVERY time I check on my snakes they have their eyes open. Don't they ever sleep?