EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Nicole Jones never expected to wake up in the middle of the night and find a snake slithering through her apartment.
The East Providence resident told 12 News she found the animal in her kitchen while she was grabbing a snack from her fridge.
“I looked down and I saw it — I was still half asleep and it was dark,” Jones recalled. “I was thinking like, ‘is that a snake?'”
“I thought, ‘why is there a snake here?'” she continued. “I was trying to figure out if I was losing it.”
It wasn’t until the snake started moving that she realized it was real.
“It’s not something you wake up to in Rhode Island,” Jones said. “Maybe in Florida.”
Jones said she had no idea where the snake came from, since her family has only been living in the Mauran Avenue apartment for about a month.
She decided to reach out to the East Providence Police Department for assistance.
The East Providence Police Department told 12 News that the snake was not native to the area and wasn’t venemous. She also didn’t belong to any of Jones’ neighbors.
Jones said she decided to reach out the next day and find out where the snake ended up. She was shocked to learn that East Providence Animal Control planned on bringing it to a reptile shop.
“They were just going to give it to them, and then nobody would know where [she] ended up,” Jones said. “I was like, ‘can I come get [her]?'”
Jones then brought the snake back home, where the animal began to grow on her.
“She’s calm and very gentle,” Jones said. “No agitation, just a very good snake — even though she’s been through a lot.”
Jones said she was able to track down her apartment’s previous tenant, who told her the snake had been missing for roughly three months.
“I’ve been here sleeping, not knowing where she’s been hiding,” Jones said, referring to the snake. “I kept asking, ‘Is there any more I might find?'”
The snake’s owner plans on picking her up sometime next week, much to the dismay of Jones’ son. She’s now thinking about getting him a snake for his birthday.
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