Baby snake found slithering in Southlake woman’s shoe closet

A baby snake showed up in a woman’s shoe closet over the weekend, Southlake authorities say.

“She went to get a shoe [maybe a Chrisssssssstian Louboutin?] in her closet, and this little guy was hanging out inside it,” the city’s Department of Public Safety tweeted Tuesday.

Usha Venkataraman said her family’s two Maltipoo dogs were restless Friday night. Her son was headed to get his shoes and take the dogs for a walk when he discovered the snake about 9:45 p.m, she said.

An officer who is “a little bit country” recognized the snake as a venomous cottonmouth, the department said.

But the specific species of snake seemed to be up for debate. On social media, numerous people said it was a nonvenomous water snake.

“We are not herpetologists,” the department said in an update to its Facebook post. “Forgive our misidentification if it was a misidentification.”

Venkataraman said she has lived at her home, which is near a creek, about 20 years and they’ve found snakes in the yard before. There’s lots of construction in the area, and her husband had left a door open for a few hours earlier in the day, she said.

Venkataraman said that she’s glad the snake wasn’t harmed and that it shouldn’t be blamed for intruding.

“We are actually living in their place,” she said. “Everywhere you will find animals like this, even people are more dangerous than the animals.”

Officers used tongs to pick up the snake so it wouldn’t bite them and were gentle so as not to hurt the snake, the department said.

The baby snake was then driven to Bob Jones Park, a heavily wooded area, so it could “live a long, fruitful life away from shoes,” the Southlake DPS said.