South Carolina woman finds large snake in bedroom closet

FOREST ACRES, S.C. — A South Carolina woman received an unwelcome slithering surprise in her bedroom closet.

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Debbie Edens, of Columbia, was folding laundry in her bedroom when she looked down and saw a snake, WACH reported.

“When I realized it was a snake, I was completely horrified,” Edens told the television station.

What Eden saw was an Eastern Black Rat snake, a nonvenomous species, according to the National Wildlife Federation. The reptile can grow up to 7 feet in length.

“I opened the closet door and there he was, hanging out in the closets. Just wrapped around a little purse or something that was on the floor,” Scott Smith with All Things Wild Pest Control in Columbia, told WACH, adding that snake sightings this time of year are common. “I mean, they’re out moving. They’ve been asleep all winter in hibernation. They’re hungry.”

Smith said snakes and other pests can enter homes through a chimney or any cracks and walls, the television station reported. He added that rat snakes are unlikely to harm people, but cautioned against copperheads, which are also plentiful in South Carolina.

“They’re very distinct, you can’t not see them when they’re there,” Smith told WACH. “Heads shiny like a penny, they’re tiger-striped, you see those -- yeah, don’t mess with them.”

Cox Media Group