Snake on cart surprises Pittsford Wegmans shopper

Marcia Greenwood | Democrat and Chronicle

Show Caption Hide Caption Unexpected guest? Huge snake 'rings' doorbell This slithering snake set off a homeowner's intruder alert in Wichita, Kansas.

You’ve heard of the movie Snakes on a Plane? Meet the local, small-scale sequel: Snake on a Shopping Cart.

Laura Walitsky wrote on Facebook that after arriving at the Pittsford Wegmans around 6:30 p.m. Monday, she grabbed a cart and began perusing the produce. She was picking out “some broccoli, some grapes, peaches and … choosing my plums” when her daughter said, “Uh, Mom, there’s a snake on the cart.”

Wait. What?

Indeed, a small reptile had wrapped itself around the bottom of Walitsky’s cart (where shoppers often put heavy or bulky items).

The Pittsford resident remained calm.

“We walked the cart outside,” she explained via Facebook Messenger, and “I sent my daughter in to tell someone at customer service.”

Then Walitsky spotted two Helping Hands workers and “flagged them over.”

“I said, ‘What do you think we should do with this?’ One ran in to get a manager.”

Walitsky praised the Wegmans employees who responded to the situation, saying they “were definitely surprised, but stayed calm” too.

Although Walitsky must be a special kind of calm because she had the presence of mind to snap a couple pictures of the wayward creature.

In an email, Wegmans spokesperson Valerie Fox said, “This was an isolated incident.” She said that, ultimately, a Helping Hands worker removed the snake from the cart and placed it in a wooded area by the store.

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It isn’t clear how the snake wound up on the cart. But Bradley Cosentino, an associate professor of biology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, called it a "cool find!" after viewing Walitsky's photographs.

Cosentino, who is helping organize an effort to monitor the populations of New York amphibians and reptiles, including snakes, identified the creature as a milk snake.

Milk snakes are non-venomous, non-aggressive and among the more common snake species in New York. They’re slender and typically grow no longer than three feet. Their preferred diet of mice often causes them to frequent barns and other outbuildings.

This story includes reporting by Steve Orr.