Emma Dormer, from Donington, said her husband found the snake while he was gardening.
She said: “I was terrified. I reached out to our local Donington Facebook page and within minutes people put us in touch with Mark, the owner.
“Hopefully [it will be] the last we will see of that!”, she added.
Gordon-Hill said he recognised the reptile from the photo – but couldn’t be sure it belonged to him until he saw it in person.
“There was this little inkling in my head. I was like – that’s exactly the same snake that went missing a year ago, and then when I got there, I was like, yeah, that’s my snake!
“The markings, a deforming on the tail, which I knew was my snake straight away,” he said.
He added the animal was in good health and believed it must have survived on local wildlife.