Dog walker stunned to find one of Europe's longest snakes in London

One of Europe’s longest snakes in London – and nearby zoo says it isn’t one of theirs

• Chris Kutler spotted the snake while walking along the Regents Canal towpath 

A dog walker was left stunned after discovering one of Europe’s longest snakes in central London.

Chris Kutler, 59, was worried that the Aesculapian snake, a type of rat snake, was missing from London Zoo after he spotted it while out for a stroll.

Chris was walking along the Regents Canal towpath on Thursday when his dog stopped to look at something in the grass.

He was shocked to discover a dark grey snake, which he said was ‘too big’ to be an adder or grass snake.

After calling a friend to help identify it, he was relieved to discover that despite not being native to the UK the animals are not venomous or aggressive.

Chris Kutler, 59, was walking along the Regents Canal towpath on Thursday when he spotted the snake

Chris was worried that the Aesculapian snake, a type of rat snake, was missing from London Zoo 

One passer-by asked London Zoo on Twitter: ‘Any chance of you have missing a snake? There is one on the side of the canal, north walkway, and people are stopping to have a look.’

The zoo said it did not escape from there and lives on the banks of the canal.

Chris, from London, said the snake was longer than one metre but they can grow up to two metres in length and are one of the largest snakes to be found on the continent.

He said: ‘The dog stopped to look at something and I thought “what’s that” – and it was a snake.

‘I thought it might be an adder or grass snake, but it was much too big for that.

Chris said: ‘The dog stopped to look at something and I thought “what’s that” – and it was a snake’

‘I realised I was next to the zoo and thought maybe it’s escaped from the zoo.

‘I was quite mesmerised by it but didn’t know if it was poisonous. So I called a friend who knows about this kind of thing who said he thought it was a rat snake.’

Several other walkers have spotted the exotic snake on the banks of the canal and feared it had come from the zoo.

There are three colonies of the snake located within the UK – two in Wales and one on the banks of Regents Canal.

It is thought to be the only non-native snake species to have formed a breeding population in the UK. 

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