Man who found 6ft snake describes 'panic stations' moment

A man has spoken of the moment he discovered a large snake near a park in Nottinghamshire.

Sean Dirrane was walking his dog near Colwick Country Park on Thursday evening when he spotted what he thought was a branch on a path.

He said: "I thought 'that looks like a snake', and then it moved and I was a bit like 'panic stations'.

"I'm 6ft 2in and it was way bigger than me. God knows how long it had been living in the woods and hopefully it is the only one out there."

Mr Dirrane, 31, who lives in the area, said: "Luckily my dog didn't notice it.

"I have a medium-sized dog but this snake was the girth of my leg, so it was easily big enough to take him down.

"What would I have done if it had got him? Fight a snake to free the dog? It's not a situation I wanted or expected to be in!"

Mr Dirrane called the police who, after being persuaded it was not a prank call, sent two officers.

A Nottinghamshire Police spokesperson said: "Police and RSPCA colleagues were called into action after a report a six-foot long snake was spotted slithering along a footpath in Colwick Country Park.

"The snake, believed to be a non-venomous boa imperator, was encountered shortly before 4pm on Thursday.

"A local reptile centre, which was alerted to the surprise discovery, attended and safely recovered the snake."

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