A huge snake skin was found on the shores of the River Thames in London by someone scavenging for valuable objects.
Jason Sandy was mudlarking, which is the act of searching in river mud for items of worth, when he came across the five-foot skin on the north side of the Thames close to Hammersmith Bridge on Monday (August 8).
The scaly skin could belong to a boa constrictor that had been abandoned or even escaped from its owner.
This particular snake species is non-venomous and normally found in Central and South America.
According to National Geographic the largest boa constrictor ever reported was 18-foot-long but they usually average around ten-foot.
Sandy
the creepy discovery on his Instagram account and exclaimed: "Yikes! Yesterday I spotted this large snake skin on the foreshore.
"I couldn’t believe my eyes. A very large snake shed its skin, and it washed in with the tide.
"I did look behind my back to make sure the snake wasn’t lurking behind me.
"I hope this snake skin isn’t evidence of more snakes living along the Thames."
He added that he felt like he was mudlarking up the Amazon River and not the Thames.
He replied to one user comment saying that he had left the skin behind as it " smelled really bad ".
The giant snakes are known for the ability to wrap their body around prey before crushing them to death and swallowing them whole.
However, they have been known to kill humans and in July a man was killed in Pennsylvania, US when his 18-foot pet boa constrictor strangled him.
Elliot Senseman, 27, died in hospital four days after the incident that saw police officers shoot the snake dead.
In the UK, a surge of adder sightings - the country's only native venomous snake - along coastal areas has led to warnings for summer holidaymakers.
While a mum told the Mirror in an exclusive of the "horrible" moment her dog was attacked on the face by a 15-foot snake in North Yorkshire.
Catherine Thomas, 43, said: "With it being on his face and neck it could have blocked his airways I knew I had to take him to the vets straight away.
"We were all worried sick about him I didn't sleep all night."
