Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
A man who was scared as to why his toilet was flushing itself in the middle of the night was shocked to discover a two-metre long Aesculapian snake hiding in the cistern.
The discovery is the latest in a number of bizarre incidents involving snakes being found in Austrian toilets.
In the latest incident, a man from the town of Breitenfurt located near Austria’s capital Vienna was terrified when his toilet started flushing for no reason at 1pm on Saturday (7th August).
After he opened the toilet tank to investigate, he discovered the reason: A two-metre long Aesculapian snake which had made itself comfortable inside.
The panicked man immediately alerted fire fighters from the District of Modling located in the Austrian state of Lower Austria.
Shortly after 10, fire fighters came and found the reptile inside the toilet tank, and reassured the man that although scary, he was actually never in any danger as it was non-venomous.
Modling District Fire Brigade spokesperson, Lukas Derkits, explained that the Aesculapian snake which is native to Europe, grows up to two metres (6.6 ft) in length and is among one of the largest snakes on the continent.
According to Derkits the snake which was taken out of its unusual hiding place and released back in the forest, came inside the toilet tank through partition walls.
Snakes have recently dominated headlines in Austrian media since a 65-year-old man named Walter Erhard from the city of Graz was bitten on his genitals by an albino python during a morning bathroom trip on 5th July.
Local media reported that he was taken to the city’s University Hospital was only treated for minor injuries and was later released.
However, in a second incident that happened during that same week a man named Dominic S., 24, died in hospital after he was bitten by a nose-horned viper that he kept in his home in the city of Enns in Austria on 7th July.
Austrian media reported that nobody was injured during the latest occurrence.
