A SNAKE caused panic after rail workers discovered it had been living on their train.
Staff at Selhurst Train Depot in Croydon contacted the police when they discovered the slippery reptile – but when cops arrived they were spooked and “ran away”.
Officers called in reptile expert Gareth North from Mitcham Zoo, who was able to rescue the slithering beast.
Photos show the 3ft snake crawling along the floor of the Southern Rail train carriage that had been travelling between London, Kent and Sussex.
Mr North told The Sun: “It was a corn snake – they’re not poisonous at all but I believe the workers at the train depot got a bit of a shock.
“The British Transport Police were more scared.
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"They arrived and checked in, saw the snake and basically ran out of the carriage.
“They then contacted me but then by the time I got there the snake had been retrieved into a bag by the train workers.”
Corn snakes are slender, orange or brownish-yellow snakes with a pattern of large, red blotches outlined in black down their backs that can grow as big as 6ft.
They are native to southeastern and Central America and feed on mice and rats.
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Mr North believes the snake could have been dumped by its owner and may have been on the train “for some time”.
He said: “We really can’t be sure how the snake got on the train. There could be several reasons for it.
“Trains are warm and the heating is on in those trains 24 hours everyday.
"Out in the open, it would have died because it's too cold. It’s not native to this country.
“It’s possible that someone has dumped it on but it’s also possible that it just escaped from a happy home and made its way onto the train while it was in the surface yard.
“Either way it’s found somewhere warm to stay.
“At this point, we can only presume that it’s been dumped on the train – it does happen.”
What to do if you see a snake
Advice from the RSPCA –
If you stumble across a native British snake in your garden or the wild, please leave them undisturbed.
There's no need to get in contact with us unless the snake appears to be injured or wounded.
If you find a non-native species of snake, please keep your distance and call our advice line on 0300 1234 999.
Mr North says he has seen a huge jump in people abandoning or relinquishing their exotic pets because of the cost of living crisis.
With people unable to afford electricity and vet bills, he is having to take hundreds more animals a year in.
He explained: “Currently we’re just looking over the snake's condition.
“It’s dehydrated so it may have been on the train for an extended period of time – it's difficult to tell.
“It’s got some artificial injuries just where it’s been trying to get through the heater grills on the floor.
"It must have gotten stuck and tried to pull itself through.
“We’ll review it in the next couple of days and then he or she will likely be transported down to the NCRW – The National Centre For Reptile Welfare.
“It's the only charity in the country that will take on reptiles. We are effectively a stopping point for it.”
Social media users were shocked when a photo of the snake was posted online – and likened it to the Hollywood movie Snakes On A Plane.
One joked: "Sounds like a job for Samuel L. Jackson."
Another said: "I mean I've seen snakes on a plane but never a train."
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A third added: "I hope he was ok, the poor thing. They don't do well out in the cold. He just wanted to keep warm."
The Sun has contacted Southern Rail and British Transport Police for comment.
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