Corn snake similar to one found in north Belfast

POLICE are hunting the owner of an escaped snake in north Belfast.

The 4ft long corn snake was found in the Jellicoe Drive area on Monday and officers at York Road PSNI are appealing for help in tracing its keeper.

The corn snake or Pantherophis guttatus guttatus, or red rat snake, is a North American species of rat snake that subdues its small prey by constriction.

The name ‘corn snake’ comes from the days when southern farmers stored harvested ears of corn in a wood frame or log building called a crib.

Rats and mice came to the corn crib to feed on the corn, and corn snakes came to feed on the rodents.