Austrian man bitten by neighbor’s escaped python while on the toilet
For those who have fear of snakes, especially those who get the heebie jeebies by just looking at their photos, getting close to even just one of these reptiles would be an experience their nightmares are made of.
A 65-year-old man in Graz, Austria had a beyond up-close-and-personal with a snake—an albino reticulated python—when he did his morning bathroom ritual on Monday, July 5.
According to local Austrian police, the man said he felt a “pinch in the area of his genitals” shortly after sitting on the toilet.
Stunned, the man looked in the toilet bowl and saw the 5-ft. python in the bowl. He was reportedly brought to a nearby hospital where he was treated for “minor injuries.”
To remove the snake in the bowl, the authorities had to call reptile expert Werner Stangl, who told Kronen Zeitung newspaper that it was difficult to remove the python from the toilet as he had to make sure that it wouldn’t get injured.
Stangl also asked everyone in the apartment to leave to avoid vibrations that might frighten the snake. After he managed to remove the python from the toilet bowl, he washed and cleaned it and eventually returned it to its owner.
How did the snake make its way into the man’s toilet bowl, you ask?
According to authorities, the snake belonged to the man’s 24-year-old neighbor who is a reptile enthusiast and owns 11 non-venomous snakes and a gecko. The python had escaped from its terrarium but it’s still unclear how it reached the man’s apartment.
Police said it’s possible the snake slithered its way through a network of drains but its exact route is still unknown.
The python was returned to its owner, who was said to be shocked upon learning what happened. According to Reuters, the neighbor has been reported to the prosecutor’s office on suspicion of negligence causing bodily harm.
