Shropshire man's shock as snake tries to take a dip in garden pond

Pete Guildford, of Calverhall, near Whitchurch, said he thought he had spotted a big stick in his pond. However, on closer inspection, discovered it was a large snake.

He said: "I just happened to be walking up my garden – we've got quite a long one, with a pond that I've got some fish in which has a heron protection net on.

"About halfway up my garden I noticed something that resembled a long stick. I thought maybe kids had pushed the stick under the conifer hedge.

"However on approaching the pond this 'stick' suddenly started moving, then it dawned on me 'It's a snake'. I was in shock.

"At first my neighbours and I thought it might be an adder but after consulting various snake experts, they said it was a rat snake."

Mr Guildford said he spent the next hour or so freeing the snake and released it into a disused reservior.

He said: "I tried and eventually succeeded in freeing the snake from my heron protection net, it had managed to get stuck in one of the holes.

"I finally managed to coax it into a landing net, and I took him and freed him half a mile away into a now disused reservoir. I did however have to use a pair of scissors to cut my landing net to shreds as he had must have entwined himself in and out of every hole in the net and he was stuck fast.

"The thing that was quite funny is I was walking through the village showing this snake to my neighbours. Some people walk their dogs on a lead – I was taking my snake for a walk in a landing net.

"I got some very strange looks, I can tell you. I've never seen anything like this. The snake must have obviously liked a drink."