People could expect finding filthy and smelly stuff in the toilet but seeing a wild animal in the restroom at work is perhaps something that most people do not anticipate these days.
Unfortunately, this is exactly what happened to two women in San Diego county who were shocked when they discovered a big snake slithering out of the toilet in their office.
Vertical PR + Marketing co-founder Stephanie Lacsa related that she noticed the water in the second floor restroom toilet was unusually high on Tuesday. She then used a toilet plunger and eventually noticed something coming out.
Lacsa initially thought that her eyes were deceiving her but when she saw a flickering tongue, she realized it was a snake. The businesswoman ran from the bathroom screaming, slamming the door and called her business partner Holly Wells.
"I thought, 'No way this is possible. My eyes are deceiving me,'" Lacsa said.
The two women then contacted the San Diego County Department of Animal Services and asked for help. When employees from the agency arrived and went into the bathroom that had been taped shut, they found that the animal, a 5 and ½ foot-long Colombian rainbow boa, already completely emerged from the toilet and was already coiled behind it.
Weighing about 5 pounds, the snake was underweight. It was also shedding and a bit irritable. Daniel De Sousa, the deputy director of the county Animal Services, said that the boa constrictor bit a handler. He also said the snake appears to be someone's pet and not something from the sewer.
Lacsa confirmed that her landlord has said something about a tenant in the same building owning a snake that probably got lost. The said tenant, however, is currently nowhere to be found.
The public relations company that Lacsa and Well operates is located at the Old San Diego City Hall. Built in 1886, the building is now more than 100 years old and the women admitted being accustomed to seeing old pipes and encountering stubborn plumbing. However, they said that they were not prepared to see a 5-foot long snake in the toilet.
The captured snake was taken to an animal care center to be examined. DeSousa said that if its owner will not come forward and retrieve the animal by Friday, the snake will be given to a rescue group.
It is not yet clear how the snake managed to get into the toilet.
