Woman Finds Snake in Her Toilet After Vacation—How It Got There

An Arizona woman recently returned from a trip to discover a snake hiding in her toilet.

Returning from a relaxing vacation can already be enough of a bummer without having to worry about coming home to potential plumbing issues. But in one recent case, an Arizona woman got quite a surprise when she discovered a snake hiding in her toilet after spending some time out of town, local Phoenix NBC affiliate KPNX reports.

Tucson resident Michelle Lespron says she had just returned from enjoying a few days in Nashville and was settling back in at home when she went to use the bathroom. But when she went to use the toilet, she immediately noticed the reptile waiting in the bowl.

"I slammed the lid back down right away when I saw it," she told KPNX.

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It took professionals multiple visits over two days to remove the non-venomous reptile from her plumbing.

Once Lespron made the shocking discovery, she immediately decided to call in professionals to deal with the situation. But the sneaky snake didn't exactly go easy: It took the team multiple trips over two days to finally remove it from her toilet, KPNX reports.

In this case, the animal in question was found to be a coachwhip, a non-venomous species native to the area. But despite lacking dangerous fangs, they can still become aggressive toward humans in defending themselves and are considered "bad-tempered and high-strung, ever ready to bite," according to The Pueblo Chieftain.

"A coachwhip—some people call it a red racer, but this one isn't red—is a fast, intelligent snake: It eats rattlesnakes, it climbs trees, it climbs houses, it does what it wants," Bryan Hughes, owner of Rattlesnake Solutions, the animal control company that handled the call, told KPNX.

RELATED: A Copperhead Snake Bit a 4-Year-Old Boy—Here's Where It Was Hiding.

Lespron says she's still taking precautions at home after the incident.

Lespron says she's been laughing off the recommendation from friends to simply burn her house to the ground in light of her horrifying discovery. But even though the problem has been resolved, she still hasn't been able to return to normal just yet.

"I couldn't use it for three weeks even after he got it out," she told KPNX. "I actually had all my toiletries from the trip I had been on, so I just moved everything to the other bathroom."

Since the harrowing incident, she's also picked up a few new precautionary habits. "I kept flushing the toilet before I'd even decide to sit down, I always turn my light on even at night when I'm tired, I always leave my toilet lid closed, and my father put screens on the top of any openings on my roof so snakes and other animals can't worm their way through!" Lespron told the news outlet.

Even though it's rare, there are a few ways to ensure a snake can't make its way into your toilet.

Despite coachwhips' well-known climbing abilities, Hughes says the likelihood of finding a snake in your toilet isn't something you should expect to see all that often. He suggests that anyone who's worried should have their septic systems checked regularly to ensure reptiles and other animals can't find their way into your home's plumbing.

Another easy solution is to follow Lespron's example by ensuring any vent caps on your home's plumbing system are covered with screens to keep wildlife out. It's also best to leave your lid closed so any snakes that may have snuck into your home through a door, window, or crack don't make their way inside to use it as a cool hiding space on a warm day.

"However, ultimately, it's such a rare event that it's not something most people should ever be concerned with," Hughes told KPNX.