Woman startled by 26kg snake in her washing machine

A terrified woman has had to call the police for help after she found a 26kg snake sleeping in her washing machine.

Zhang Li, from the village of Beiti in China’s southern Guangdong Province, says she must have left her washing machine lid open, allowing the snake to slither into the empty drum while unattended.

She discovered the frightening Burmese python - a state-protected species in China - while preparing to wash her clothes one day.

Fortunately she hadn’t dropped any of her clothes inside yet, but it certainly gave her a fright.

After contacting the authorities, officials from the local wildlife rescue centre as well as Chaozhou Zoo snake expert Yan Hongwei, were sent to her home.

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Yan yanked the python from Zhang’s washing machine and stuffed it into a sack, later putting it on a scale to determine its weight: a whopping 26kgs.

Zhang lives near a forest and has seen small snakes slithering around before, but she never expected to see one relaxing in her washing machine, especially not one of this size.

Yan, who has worked with snakes for decades, says he believes the animal was looking for a place to hibernate for the winter and must have mistaken Zhang’s washing machine to be a dark cave.

"Snakes find a cave, curl up inside and stay there for the winter," Yan says, "They like narrow space."

Although this python’s bite isn’t venomous - they kill prey by suffocating it to death - Yan says they can still cause serious injury and should be avoided at all costs.

Zhang’s washing machine python has been taken to the local rescue shelter and is expected to be released back into the wild.

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