Python named Peanut to reunite with owner after Ontario sewage plant rescue

It’s an improbable reunion weeks in the making, as a Windsor, Ont., man is set to pick up his ball python found last month in a city sewage plant.

Connor Russette’s three-and-a-half-foot-long snake named Peanut had been missing since about May 13, he told Global News. She’d been fed around 8 p.m., but was nowhere to be found the following morning around 6 a.m.

“I look up and the first thing I see is no snake in this enclosure,” he said. “I looked everywhere for the snake.”

Russette believes Peanut may have slithered to the toilet, but is still not sure exactly how she left his home. He was worried that if she did enter the plumbing, she might not survive.

“I’m extremely happy that I found her,” Russette said.

The reunion wasn’t a simple process, though, as it took more than a week for Peanut to be found.

The snake showed up last month in a collection bin at the Little River Pollution Control Plant in Windsor, according to a social media post from the Windsor/Essex County Humane Society.

The plant’s chief operator, Jeff Miller, retrieved the python on May 22 and it was turned over to the humane society the same day.

Snakes do show up in the sewer, but many don’t survive, said Ed Valdez, executive director of pollution control at the City of Windsor.

Some animals may get on plant property but it’s rare for one to enter the sewer system, and for an animal to be found alive in the system is “an extreme, rare occasion” that Valdez said he’s never seen in his 16 years at the city.

When Russette saw the post from the humane society, he called the organization. He travelled to its location on Tuesday to see if it was Peanut.

“I walked in, I looked at it, soon as I’d seen the head of its little discolouration, I’m like ‘Yep, that’s Peanut,'” Russette said.

Animals are kept at the humane society for a hold period before they are potentially adopted out, said the organization’s executive director, Lynnette Bain.

Bain confirmed to Global News that the owner had been found.

“We definitely aim to always reunite animals with their homes if possible,” she said. “This snake was highly socialized, so it’s definitely somebody’s pet. It loves people, I will say that.”

A pick up is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon. Russette said he has a veterinary appointment scheduled so Peanut can be checked out.

“She needs an examination, a little bit of medication, and she looks rough,” he said, adding she has some “cuts on her but not too many.”

Before Peanut’s disappearance, Russette said he often took her to car shows and other events. As long as she’s healthy, he plans to do so again this summer.

“She used to go on my shoulders, just walk around the area, go for walks, bring her places, bring her to car meets and everything,” he said.

“Now I got the snake, the snake’s back, now we can do our adventures.”