Police helicopter deployed to find snake

A police helicopter was scrambled to hunt down a potentially killer snake – which is still on the loose in Keyham, Plymouth. 'Hissing Sid', as he has been nicknamed by locals, disappeared up a drainpipe when residents tried to capture him. The mysterious four-foot serpent was spotted slithering along the pavement in Cotehele Avenue. Three brave residents tried to trap him in a kitchen swing-bin when he appeared outside their homes. But the exotic creature was so strong he forced his way out, and then slid up an elderly lady's drainpipe.

Hissing Sid has been in hiding ever since – and locals now fear making a shock discovery inside their homes. A police helicopter flew over the terraced street with thermal imaging gear in a failed bid to find the snake on Saturday. Bernard Brotherton said two neighbours stumbled across sandy-coloured Sid on Thursday evening. Bernard used tips picked up from TV wildlife documentaries to scoop the reptile up with a spoon and into a knee-high swing-bin. "It seemed like the sensible thing to do," said the 53-year-old. "We didn't have any cotton snake sacks handy.


Photo from SWNS.

"But it was so strong it would wrap itself around the rim of the lid and squeeze itself through the top like toothpaste. We got it in about three times but even with six hands pushing down on the lid it was too powerful. It was getting angry so we backed off, and at that point it decided to pop up the drainpipe." The trio rang vets, environmental health experts, the police and the RSPCA before staff from the animal charity arrived at the scene. Bernard said they told him photos he had taken suggested the snake was of foreign origin.

Devon and Cornwall Police said PCSOs had carried out house-to-house enquiries in the area but nobody had owned up to being Sid's owner. Bernard added: "If it is a constrictor, like they think it is, it is worrying. There are young children around here and it could do them some harm. It could slide under some slates and into somebody's loft, or maybe down a chimney. Or it could be miles away by now. It probably wants a nice quiet life away from all this publicity.It wasn't being aggressive until towards the end of our struggle but I'd still rather know where it is." Anybody who sees the snake should report it to the police.