A Kirkcaldy woman has told of her shock after lifting the lid on her toilet to find a snake-like creature slithering up the bowl.
Harriet Mackie, 30, made the disturbing discovery on Wednesday at her home off Hendry Road in the Hayfield area of the town.
She described the visitor as being about 12cm long and about half a centimetre thick.
It also had one solid line along its back but, unlike an earthworm, it did not have any distinctive segments on its body.
Snake-like creature ‘wriggling around’ in Kirkcaldy woman’s toilet
Harriet told The Courier she panicked and flushed the intruding creature away – but not before capturing a picture on her phone.
She said: “I was shocked when I went in and saw it – at that point, it was wriggling around, up the side of the toilet.
“I called out for my partner and then quickly went to get my phone to get a picture.
“In those few seconds, it had moved more under the rim of the toilet bowl, as you can see in the picture.
“Its head is to the left and its tail is to the right.
‘The toilet lid will be staying firmly down now’
“We panicked and flushed it down as I didn’t want to grab it out.
“I don’t know how long exactly it had been there but my partner had been in the bathroom maybe 30 minutes prior and it appeared after that.”
Harriet added: “The toilet lid will be staying firmly down now.
“I’m luckily not that squeamish but have a fear of snakes, so that’s where my mind went first.
“Now I will never not turn the light on during the night.”
Claims snake-like creature in Kirkcaldy toilet may be slow worm
Harriet later came across what she believed was the same creature in her garden.
She said: “It moved very quickly.
“It was not like a normal worm at all and disappeared into gravel.
“We couldn’t find it, however, despite having a bit of a search.”
Harriet has posted a photo of the unexpected toilet intruder on social media in a bid to find out exactly what it was.
Her post has drawn scores of comments, with many suggesting it could be a slow worm – a legless lizard – which had entered the sewer system during the recent heavy rain.
Many were shocked by the thought of finding a snake-like creature slithering inside the toilet.
One wrote: “Oh my word! I’m scarred for life. I’ll be shining a torch down the loo every time after this.”
Another posted: “This has freaked me out.”
And one local joked: “Probably the simplest solution is to cement the toilet then burn down the house.”
It is not the first time an animal has been found in an unusual location in Tayside and Fife – with snakes previously found on a beach and in a Fife woman’s bed.
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