Moment panicked mother makes horrifying discovery in her child's room

Daily Mail​

31-07-2025

A mother was left horrified after she discovered a hissing seven-foot snake lurking in her child's bedroom while her daughter played next to it.
Natasha Robinson from Cheshire, thought her fiancé Gary Minshull, 40, was playing a prank on her when, on June 15, he told her that he'd found a snake in their son's bedroom.
The 34-year-old went upstairs and saw what she thought was a toy, but her jaw dropped when she spotted the serpent's tongue suddenly flick in and out.
The shocked wedding accessories business owner ushered her three-year-old Primrose, who had been playing while blissfully unaware of the exotic intruder, out of the room and closed the door.
Natasha then took Primrose, along with her sons Jacob, seven, and Theo, six, into the garden to check on the family's cats, which she feared might have been eaten.
She frantically tried to identify the black and yellow snake on Google before contacting local pet shops, but her efforts were to no avail.
Natasha and her husband, a health, safety and quality manager, then resorted to social media, and shared a post on Facebook pleading for help.
A couple who lives locally to Natasha and own exotic pets reached out to her and said they'd claim the snake. The mother-of-three cornered the serpent for two hours while she waited for them to arrive.
The snake was later identified as a Taiwanese Beauty Rat Snake, a non-venomous constrictor snake that's legal to keep without a licence in Britain.
They're typically six to 10 feet in length and usually docile, but if they perceive a threat they can bite without warning.
Natasha said: 'My partner called me from upstairs in a panic, saying 'Come upstairs there is a snake in the boys' room'.
'Me and my son both thought he was talking rubbish and that he wanted to pull a prank on us.
'Even in the split second when I first saw it, I still thought that he'd bought a toy snake off Temu. But then I saw it moving and its tongue coming out.
'To begin with, I thought "It's got to just be a grass snake" or something else not so dangerous but it didn't look anything like the pictures - and it was so big.'
From the size and appearance of the snake, the couple inferred that it definitely wasn't native.
'Then we put it on Facebook pages and other people were commenting saying that it was an exotic snake of some form,' Natasha added.
Natasha said: 'My partner and I were just in disbelief really - especially knowing it had been in there with our daughter.
'I'm just so grateful it was spotted and that she didn't accidentally tread on it. One of my sons is autistic, he would've grabbed it. I dread to think what could've happened then.'
After making sure the children and their two cats were safe, Natasha started ringing around for help, but because they found the snake on a Sunday, many shops were shut.
Her Facebook plea was heard by a couple who own exotic pets, and luckily, they staged a rescue on the 'grumpy, hissing' critter.
Natasha said: 'We tried local pet shops but they were closed. A few people on local [Facebook] pages suggested we try and catch it in a pillowcase.
'I thought, "Are you serious? I'm not doing that". It probably wouldn't have fit in a pillowcase anyway.
'Luckily, we had a message from a couple a few roads away who keep exotic pets who said they would come and get it if nobody else was helping.
'When the lady came to get it, it had hidden away behind a storage unit. She grabbed its head and then had to quickly get to the end of the tail because she said it would restrict you if it got the chance.
The woman told Natasha and Gary that the snake was hissing because it was being caught.
'It definitely wasn't very happy in this container that she had to transport it in,' Natasha said.
The mother-of-three believes that the slippery visitor may have got in through an open window.
Though the snake is now safely fostered with the couple who rescued it, Natasha admitted that for a few days, she frantically checked where she stood in case another one got in too.
Natasha said: 'We think it came in through the open upstairs window of the bedroom, but we'll never know.
'I didn't know how long it had been in the house, or whether there were more. I don't think I could've slept with it in the house - even if it was shut behind a closed door.
'We had new mattresses delivered in the boys' room where it appeared, and I was thinking, "Has it come out of that mattress? Is there a nest of them in there?"
She added: 'After they took the snake away, I took all the beds off and I searched everywhere.'
'Then for days I was checking where I trod and lifting the pillows and duvets before getting into bed.
'Luckily that fear did go. We're still really baffled about where it came from and we get asked about it to this day, because no owner ever came forward.
'The children weren't frightened of it, they thought it was really cool having a snake in their bedroom.
'It was totally bizarre. You'd think if it was a loved pet it would've been claimed,' she said, adding, 'We have been like celebrities around here ever since, I'm asked about it constantly.'
They're typically six to ten feet in length, and usually docile - but if they perceive a threat they can bite without warning, often triggered by quick movement.