It was an odd call for police on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, as officers were called to a work site after a snake got stuck in a pipe.
The slithering serpent was found by construction superintendent Pier Bueno Tuesday morning as he approached the worksite he supervises on West 95th Street.
“I have come across with some other rodents — raccoons and rats and stuff. But never a snake,” said Bueno. “It was pretty scary. Especially when i saw the officer try to take the snake out of the piping.”
Citizen App video showed the snake under mesh covering before it somehow made its way into a scaffolding pope. Officers with the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit used water and banged on the scaffold to force the reptile out from its hiding spot.
Officers did eventually free the snake and secured it in a cloth bag. It was not clear how the snake ended up on the sidewalk, or in the middle of the city, but it was enough to give a scare to those who live in the neighborhood.
The Animal Care Centers of New York City said the animal is a water snake. It appeared to be molting, or shedding its skin, which according to experts would explain why it was in the pipe: Snakes are known to rub up against rough surfaces and hide while shedding their scales.
The NYC ACC said the snake has since been named Pillow. The group is looking for a new home outside of the city for the reptile.