SOUTHLAKE, Texas — You’ve heard of snakeskin shoes or boots. A Texas family was surprised to find a snake in their shoe closet.
Police in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Southlake received a call from a woman at about 9:45 p.m. CDT on Friday, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Usha Venkataraman said her family’s two Maltipoo dogs were restless, and when her son went to get his shoes to take the animals for a walk he discovered the reptile, according to the newspaper.
“She went to get a shoe (maybe a Chrisssssssstian Louboutin?) in her closet, and this little guy was hanging out inside it,” the Southlake Department of Public Safety tweeted Tuesday.
SNAKE SAVE THREAD! Our friend Usha posted these pix to social thanking us for helping out with a baby cottonmouth snake this weekend. She went to get a shoe (maybe a Chrisssssssstian Louboutin?) in her closet, and this little guy was hanging out inside it.
— Southlake DPS (@SouthlakeDPS) May 10, 2022
1/ pic.twitter.com/01O9eumQfn
Police responding to the home said they believed the snake was a baby cottonmouth, which is venomous, KTVT reported. An officer who is “a little bit country” made the determination, the Morning News reported.
Officers used tongs to pick up the snake, according to KTVT. The snake was then taken to the Bob Jones Nature Center and Preserve.
After the Southlake police posted photographs, several people on social media questioned whether the snake was a cottonmouth, believing instead that it was a nonvenomous water snake, the Morning News reported.
The police department insisted that its identification was correct, and that officers handled the snake with caution and care.
“We are not stoking fear. We are telling a story that happened with the information we had. We are not herpetologists,” the department wrote in a Facebook post. “We are not herpetologists. Forgive our misidentification if it was a misidentification.”
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