Snake adds some bite to pub’s pints

A BORDERS publican got a shock when he found a snake in his cellar.

Brian Lee, 55, had just taken a beer delivery at the Mansfield Bar in Hawick, Roxburghshire, when he saw a piece of plastic pipe moving. When he picked it up, he discovered it contained a two-foot-long Everglades ratsnake hiding inside.

Mr Lee ran out of the premises to have a better look at the creature, before calling in the Scottish SPCA.

They have taken the snake, christened Sid, into their care at the Edinburgh and Lothians Animal Rescue and Rehoming Centre at Balerno while the hunt goes on for its owner.

At first it was thought that Sid had escaped from one of the flats above the public house and made his way down to the cellar, but inquiries so far have not been successful.

Mr Lee’s wife, Susan, said: ”Brian got the shock of his life as he didn’t know at first what it was.

“In the end the snake turned out to be quite friendly. But you would not find me touching him, I am terrified of them.

“Initially we thought it must have been someone who lives above but we have asked around and no-one says they own one as a pet.

“And we do not know how long it has been there, it could have been up to three months.

“Obviously it has been the talk of the pub and the next again the drink orders were coming in for snake bites.”

The Everglades ratsnake, which can be raised on a diet of rodents, originates from North America. They are often kept as pets in the UK.