LAKEBAY, Wash. - When Betty Corey heard a hissing from her kitchen, she thought it was one of her dogs.
It turned out to be a four-foot long snake.
"I was puzzled as much as anything," said Corey, a widow who lives alone in Lakebay on the Key Peninsula.
Corey grew up on a farm, so she's not afraid of wild animals, but since it was a snake, she called 911.
"I'm not that big a fan of them," said Corey.
She figures the snake must have slithered into her home through the doggie-door that's been cut out of her back door.
A Pierce County Animal Control Officer removed the snake Tuesday morning.
The county will house it at its shelter.
"That way we can see if there's an owner looking for it," said Officer Brian Boman.
Officer Boman said it is likely a pet that escaped from another home in the neighborhood.
Boman said the ball python could only survive in the wild for a few days this time of year.
"They usually have to maintain a heat between 80-85 degrees," said Boman.
