A MAN was left “astonished” after he found an eight-foot snake skin while fishing on an island in Loch Lomond.
Thomas Hanlan had just started fishing on the island of Inchcruin on Monday afternoon when he made the alarming discovery.
He initially thought he had reeled in a fishing net but soon realised that it was a serpent’s shedded skin.
The fisherman held up the snake skin and said it was eight feet long, two feet taller than him, and around 10 inches wide – much larger than a native adder or grass snake.
The 51-year-old quickly made his way back off the island as he told the STV: “I go fishing and kayaking on the island, and I came across it right away.
“At first I thought it was a fishing net. I held it up and it was eight feet tall, which is two foot bigger than man, and when we opened it up it was about ten inches wide.
“I was astonished to see it, it’s the strangest thing I’ve found.
“Snakes this size are not native to the country. We can get adders, or grass snakes, but their skin is usually only two feet. I think it could be a boa constrictor, or a python that has been let loose.
“Anyway I was off the island rapid.”
A reptile expert told the broadcaster the snake skin resembled that of a python or boa.
Adders are the only native snake to Scotland and are normally between 60 and 80cm in length – far smaller than the discovered skin.
Hanlan believes the skin could be from a pet snake that has been abandoned on the remote island, or even a prank to scare away any potential visitors.
Either way, he wasn’t going to stick around to find out.
He told STV News: “I think it’s a pet snake that’s been set free.
“It could also be a prank, someone has just left it on the island to mess with people.
“It won’t stop me going on the island anytime in the future.
“When we were leaving there was some boys out on the beach camping, I told them to sleep with one eye open.”
