Woman bitten on rear by python lurking in her toilet

Alex Lasker
Updated ·2 min read

A woman in Australia got a rather unpleasant surprise when she sat down on her toilet and was greeted by an angry python.

Helen Richards, a resident of Chaple Hill, Brisbane, said she went into her bathroom to use the toilet without turning the lights midday on Jan. 22 when she felt something bite her bottom "mid-stream."

Richards said she initially thought it may have been a frog or a turtle until she stood up and saw that the culprit was actually a Carpet Python, a non-venomous snake commonly found throughout the continent.

"I jumped up with my pants down and turned around to see what looked like a longneck turtle receding back into the bowl," Richards told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Richards called pest-removal service Snake Catchers Brisbane, which sent an expert to her home to remove the python and safely relocate it.

The company later explained on Facebook that the python only attacked Richards because it "had gotten just as much of a fright as she did."

"The snakes preferred exit point was blocked after being spooked by the customer sitting down and it simply lashed out in fear," Snake Catchers Brisbane wrote. "It showed no defensive behavior after this point."

The company also lauded Richards for appropriately handling the stressful situation.

"Fortunately for us, the customer remained calm and remembered not to flush the toilet, as flushing could cause the snake to retreat down into the pipes again," it wrote. "The customer handled the situation like an absolute champ, having a sense of humor about it the entire time. She said her toilet habits have forever changed! Lights will be on, and she will always give the bowl a quick glance before sitting down."

For those looking to write Australia off their travel list forever, the company reassured that "being bitten on the behind by a Carpet Python in the toilet is certainly not a regular occurrence." "It was the first time we have turned up to an incident of this kind," it added.

However, if you should find yourself in a similar situation, the pest-control specialists say, "don't poke and prod (the snake), don't continue to flush the toilet. If you do these things it increases the chances of us not being able to access the snake if it retreats further into the pipe. Put the lid down, secure it, and call a snake catcher."