Family Forced to Abandon Their Rooms for 7 Months Because a Snake Took Over Their House (Photo)

 

A terrified family has spent nearly seven months living in their living room - because they feared a snake that invaded their home may still be lurking under their upstairs floorboards.

Seven members of the Hebden family, from Devon, have been sleeping together on camp beds in their living room every night since June 2015 because of the elusive one-metre-long reptile.

The yellow-and-green serpent - which was left behind at the house by a previous owner - was last seen slithering into a hole in the floor upstairs after biting the family's dog, Bear.

Now, Jackie Hebden, her husband, their daughter and their two sons and their respective partners have resorted to sleeping on the ground floor in a bid to avoid the snake. They are joined every night by Bear and another pet dog.

The alarm was first raised last June after Bear was bitten by the snake and left with serious injuries, including a blood loss, a swollen leg, bite marks and potential muscle damage.

Mrs Hebden, 46, who had to fork out £500 in vet bills for the dog, believes the snake is now hibernating beneath the upstairs floorboards of her family's Plymouth home.
 

The mother of four said: "I'm worried once it wakes up from hibernation, it's going to come out searching for food. It's been a nightmare. I'm so nervous it might strike at any minute.

"It hasn't been seen since it was spotted upstairs, though we know it's still there. It was green and yellow, with a white tip, and over a metre long.

"We only realised it was here when my dog was bitten. He came downstairs from my bedroom and I noticed his leg was swollen."

Experts predict the reptile may be a foul-tempered - but non-venomous - Kingsnake.