to be really scared and pissed off with the RSPCA.

[HelenaDove]

Last Weds night a snake found its way into my kitchen. It was on the wall above the cooker.

I heard the saucepans ding and saw it, I freaked out i called the RSPCA. They asked loads of questions. They said it was a corn snake Im incredibly phobic. They told me to go round all my neighbours at midnight and ask if its someones pet. They refused to come out. So did the police when i phoned them. In desperation i phoned the council and got my third refusal. So DH tried to catch it to put it outside It was too fast and got through a hole in the kitchen floor. We filled the holes at the instruction of the RSPCA. My 65 year old husband with a heart condition had to try and deal with it I was and still am a wreck. RSPCA phoned at 8.30 am the next morning (Thurs) to ask if it was still there after telling me to "leave it" (they didnt give a fuck about the cat i told them i have) Didnt ask whether i have young children or a baby in a cot. During The Thurs morn phone call she told me to call again if the snake comes back. Well at midnight DH saw it trying to get through the venty bit in the window of the communal hallway and managed to gently shove it outside.
Phoned RSPCA again who again told me that they cant come out at this hour and can only come out during the daytime. Ive been living in fear since last Weds. Woman on Thurs promised me they would come out if it appeared again.

The guy on the phone tonight warned me that if the snake gets hurt i would be prosecuted.
But they WONT come out Im petrified Snakes are nocturnal FFS! My nerves are fucking bad. DH has had to take extra GTN spray

I googled earlier and found this. And they had the cheek to tell this couple it was "crossed wires" And like this couple we are in Essex too.

www.express.co.uk/news/uk/493358/Man-removes-five-foot-snake-from-kitchen

Who exactly did you think was going to come to your house at midnight to catch a harmless snake in your house ? The rspca aren't pest control.

I wonder how man posters here kill or trap utterly harmless British hose spiders because they're terrified?

The guy says if the snake gets hurt you could be prosecuted? No if the snake gets hurt they are the ones who should be prosecuted. Isn't that what they are supposed to do, rescue animals in distress. I wonder what circumstances makes them decide it's worthy of a visit if not this.

What implications to the guy on the phone? Did I miss the part where OP admitted to sending him death threats or something?

It's his or her job to field calls from the public.

OP was not unreasonable to assume that a charity such as the RSPCA would come out and collect a lost pet, misguided and naive maybe, but not unreasonable. Nor is she unreasonable to be upset that they won't safely remove and care for a lost animal, given that the charity themselves

Many, many people who have to deal with the RSPCA on a professional level are upset and pissed off that they no longer collect animals, despite being the most highly funded animal "rescue" in the UK.

Lots of jumping in the band wagon to have a go at a very distressed op - hope some of you are feeling good at the op's expense

Presumably you'd be OK knowing there's a snake lurking somewhere in your kitchen

It makes no difference at all by saying the snake is harmless. I too would be terrified by the thought of it in my house. I would actually move out until it was caught.

Presumably you'd be OK knowing there's a snake lurking somewhere in your kitchen

Better a snake than a spider IMO but each to their own.

I think people are missing the point. The OP is NBU to be scared or to have a phobia. But I'm sorry she is BU to expect the police to come and remove a completely harmless snake from her kitchen, as unreasonable as I would be if I called them with a spider in my bathroom.

Anyway.

Find somewhere local who rescue reptiles or your local reptile house who will help and someone will come and collect it.
Poor thing will be cold and in danger from your cat

There's some incorrect information on this thread (along with some good advice).

To be clear...

Corn snakes are non-venomous and completely harmless - to adults, cats, babies... pretty much anything except mice! Your cat will certainly hurt the snake, though.

They are native to the US, not the UK. They are used to higher temperatures than we usually have here. It is an escaped pet.

They are largely nocturnal. It is more likely to come out at night, seeking warmth. It is extremely unlikely to approach you and will try to get away from you if it can. If it's cold, it will move more slowly.

The best advice you've had is the mouse/water bottle. How big is the snake? Go to your nearest Pets at Home or pet shop and get a frozen mouse appropriate to the size of the snake (if you tell me them - or me - the size of the snake, they'll tell you what size to get). Follow the instructions from the PP upthread - don't forget to punch airholes in it. If the mouse is too big to go through the neck of the bottle (which hopefully it will be, as then if the snake eats it it will be trapped in the bottle), but the bottle in half, put the mouse in and then tape it up. If you can, put just one radiator on low overnight, to attract the snake to the heat. If not, fill a hot water bottle before you go to bed, wrap it in a towel and put the bottle beside it. Drape the bottle with a pillow case put a few cushions around it - something to make it seem safe and cave-like to the snake.

That will probably attract it if it's in your house. Not much point if you don't think it's in the house though, obviously. You could try the lines of flour/cornflour tonight to check that first.

I wouldn't recommend that a snake-phobic sit in a dark room waiting for the plastic-bag rustle of a snake approaching though!

If you catch it in the bottle, then tape the end of the bottle over (make sure you put air holes in the bottle before baiting it though, obviously) and either the RSPCA will collect it, or you could take it to a pet shop. They're very popular pets.

Definitely check local facebook groups to see if anyone's lost it (in which case they'll come and try to tempt/attract it to be caught) or whether there are local snakey people who can help you.

I know it's awful when you have a phobia, but please try to keep in mind that this is a living creature, someone's loved pet, and is totally harmless to you. It's just trying to find somewhere warm and safe.

OP never asked if it was unreasonable to expect the police to come out and collect the snake. In fact OP never posted that she asked or even wanted the police to come out and collect the snake, she only said that she called them, presumably for advise.

She asked if she was unreasonable to be upset and pissed off that a charity purporting to be an animal welfare organisation, which regularly advertises itself to the donating public as a caring animal rescue, would not come and rescue an animal in her house that did not belong to her and she had no inclination to care for. She is not unreasonable to be upset and pissed off that they won't help.

I don't agree that op is being U expecting the RSPCA to come out. They're a charity that people give millions of pounds to each year so they can rescue animals. But they won't come and er rescue an escaped pet that the op has made clear she is not able to deal with herself. Appalling. Particularly as their heavy handed talk of prosecution in case of harm shows they see the animal as potentially at risk. This is utterly ridiculous, I feel for you op. In your position though I'd probably look for a lack petstore specialising in reptiles and offer to pay them to catch it.

fyi
Many years ago tired to get RSPCA to rescue our kitten from neighbours fir tree . They wouldn't come out. Neither would fire brigade . A tree surgeon rescued him after two nights during which he wailed pitifully
Have never had much time for RSPCA since. I made it clear I would give large donation too . Probably not their role though
The tree surgeon would accept only large bottle of whiskey Lovely man
Yes try an animal rescue charity

X post with lostmysanity -- I completely agree.

Appalling? That someone didn't rush out at midnight to catch a harmless Pet? What planet are you on?

Well, you have a cornsnake, but on the bright side you probably dont have mice -anymore-.

No if the snake gets hurt they are the ones who should be prosecuted

This makes no sense: if the OP hurt the snake in the process of ridding herelf of it, the RSPCA should prosecute themselves?

Appreciate you are phobic but it is totally, totally harmless, corn snakes ware usually only a foot long at most & don't bite. Your cat would lurve hunting it and have no problem despatching something that size if it did happen upon it. (you should see the size rats my v dainty girl catches, huge!). Put note thru all your neighbours doors/the flats main door, its probably someone's pet and just wants to be back with its owner.

Er yes it is appalling that an animal rescue charity won't come and rescue an animal that presumably can't survive in the wild in the uk, that does not belong to the op and that she cannot deal with. Particularly when this charity is one of the most well funded in the UK. Charities do have a legal obligation to operate to the public benefit. I don't necessarily expect that they'd come at midnight, but it is appalling that they wouldn't come at all.

sazzle you know they grow bigger than a foot don't you? Mines more like 5

Op is not unreasonable to ring the rspca, misinformed perhaps because if she'd rang them reporting an animal dying slowly and in agony they would be unlikely to come out either. But on being informed it wasn't something they dealt with, it is unreasonable to expect they should because you have a phobia. The police in my opinion is unreasonable either way, because while I can forgive someone being misinformed enough to know what is/isn't within the remit of the rspca before speaking to them, anyone should have the general knowledge to know a snake you've already been informed is harmless is not within the remit of a service evolved around crime and accident prevention and apprehending criminals.

No matter how well they are funded, the question is do they employees whose job it is to catch other peoples pets in the middle of the Night? I think not.
Some people seem to think that no matter what problem they have its always ssomeone else's problem to deal with. Grow up.

The RSPCA inspectorate and national body are awful. My cat was shot and killed with an airgun. They said they would come out to investigate but never did. We had to hang onto the body for 3 days and they never came out.

Local RSPCA shelters are much better but actually have to fundraiser separately. The RSPCA adverts you see in papers with emotive pictures of poor little kitties are for central RSPCA and they mislead because very little is actually spent on animals by them. The inspectorate is underfunded and their main priority is acting as a politically lobbying group which I don't think a lot of their donors realise.

Are they funded well enough to attend every suspected case of injury, neglect and straying of an animal in the UK? Doubt it. Secondly, OP doesn't actually know where the snake is right now. Are they just expected to camp out in her living room for a few nights, or take the place apart?

Charities do what they can. Beyond that it is up to the individual, or the authorities.

It's nothing to do with the OP having a phobia. It's to do with the fact that an animal was in danger and an organisation which is supposed to care about animal welfare should give a shit about it.

People saying "grow up" are really being a bit stupid.

It's a phobia. You don't just grow out of them...