A Rhode Island woman woke up in the middle of the night to grab a snack. What she saw on the floor next to her fridge made her immediately call the police

A Rhode Island woman woke up in the middle of the night craving a snack. But when she opened her refrigerator, she froze. There, coiled on the floor beside her fridge, was a living snake.

Nicole Jones, who had moved to a new apartment in Mauran Avenue, East Providence, only last month, had an unlikely housemate living with her for over a month. When she went to get leftovers from the fridge at 2 a.m., she noticed weird movement on the floor. “I looked down and I saw it — I was still half asleep and it was dark,” she said (via WPRI).

At first, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. After all, who trusts the silhouettes they see in the dark? But soon enough, she realized it wasn’t a stray cord or toy. There was a living snake, probably hungry for some snacks too. Alarmed, she backed away, shut the door, and immediately dialed the East Providence police.

Officers must’ve arrived expecting an exaggeration. They are often called about a garden snake in a garage or a loose reptile in a hallway. But this time, they found a live three-foot ball python quietly resting near the refrigerator. Animal Control was called, and the snake was safely removed.

The reptile was reportedly docile and appeared well cared for. It was pretty clear that the snake was a pet. Ball pythons aren’t native to Rhode Island, and it’s illegal to release them outdoors because they can’t survive the cold. However, their calm and non-venomous nature makes them popular pets.

But the question was, whose lost pet was living in the house? After some digging, investigators discovered that the snake belonged to a previous tenant of the same apartment. It had escaped months earlier and somehow survived undetected. Animal control suspected that it was living behind kitchen appliances or inside air vents, venturing out only at night. Only this time, his outing coincided with the Jones’.

Luckily, the police report didn’t note any injuries. Except, of course, Jones’ appetite must’ve died. She never knew that a lost pet snake was on the loose in the apartment. She quipped, “‘There might be a python somewhere around here,’ is something you should mention if you decide to leave an apartment after your snake escapes.”

But when Animal Control told her the snake would be sent to a shop, she wanted it back. The little reptile had grown on her, and she revealed how the snake is “calm and very gentle.” She also showed “no agitation,” Jones claimed, and called her “a very good snake — even though she’s been through a lot.”

However, when Jones tracked down the previous tenant to inform her about the snake, they decided to come back for it. But by now, Jones’ family had grown too attached to her presence. So, she has decided to get a snake for her son’s birthday.

While everyone expects some surprises when moving to a new place, Jones never expected to find a three-foot python quietly guarding her leftovers. Yet, it ended happily for her.