A green-fingered Eaglesham woman got an early morning fright after uncovering a snake curled up in her compost bag.
Alyson Marshall was finishing off some potting work in the family flat just hours before welcoming home their new puppy.
As she went to return her gardening gloves to the storage bench outside, she pulled back her compost bag only to be greeted by a bright red corn snake sheltering from the sub-zero temperature.
More worried about the reptile’s wellbeing than its reputation, she took it inside their Alexander Avenue home to try and keep it warm.
Speaking to Lanarkshire Live, Alyson said: “I lifted up the flap of the bag to get some compost and there it was, just curled up.
“I definitely jumped back a bit and shouted, ‘ah, there’s a snake,’ but after that I calmed down and just thought about how freezing it must have been.
“It was cold to the touch, so I lifted it up and took it inside and put it in an ice cream tub.
“My husband Scott called the SSPCA and my daughter started looking up what it needed to survive.”
Confident it was a lost pet, the family set about caring for the little critter, putting it in a tub with some drinking water and mealworm - sourced from a friend - before placing the ice cream tub on top of a hot water bottle.
Soon after the snake, dubbed Cornelius by the family, came to life - and Lanarkshire Live popped along to get some footage of the beautiful creature.
As you can see from our videos, Cornelius is no longer cold and shy, becoming very active. Now the family are keen to reunite it with its owner.
Alyson added: “We posted on the community Facebook page to see if anyone recognised it or was looking for it, but so far nothing.
“Thankfully there is someone else in the village who has some pet snakes who said they will look after Cornelius until the owner is found.”
Corn snakes are part of the North American rat snake family and are non-venomous.
They feed on wild rodent pests, such as mice and rats, and kill their prey by constriction. However, they are completely harmless to humans.
If you own, or know who owns Cornelius, then please get in touch with Lanarkshire Live via email on news@lanarkshirelive.com or DM us on Facebook.
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