Shoppers got an unexpected surprise at a supermarket after a baby snake was discovered slithering through the bread aisle.
The tiny corn snake was found last month inside a Heron Foods store in Maryport, England, before being taken to a local veterinarian and eventually handed over to animal education organization Pet Encounter.
Rescuers have since nicknamed the little reptile “Crumbs” — an appropriate name considering where it was discovered.
Exactly how the snake ended up among the bread remains a mystery. Officials do not know whether it escaped from someone’s home or was deliberately abandoned.
But Pet Encounter handler Ben Nicholson says cases like this are becoming increasingly common.
The organization has already taken in 21 snakes this year, compared with just 14 during all of 2025.
Nicholson believes rising living costs may be partly to blame, especially because keeping exotic reptiles can require expensive heating equipment.
“There’s the equipment, heat mats, heat bulbs, they all have a cost and we’re in a cost of living crisis,” he said.
“People are looking to cut down on their energy use and these animals can be a significant factor.”
Pet Encounter was originally created as an educational organization rather than an animal rescue, but Nicholson said the growing number of abandoned and surrendered exotic pets may force the group to change course.
“We started Pet Encounter for education purposes, but we’re now looking at changing our business model and going down the route of being a charity so we can get some help with funding,” he said.
“We can’t say no to these animals.”
Nicholson also believes impulse buying and animal-related trends can lead people to bring home exotic pets without understanding how much work they require.
“We find a lot of them coming through crazes,” he said.
He even said the group is preparing for a possible increase in unwanted owls as interest in the Harry Potter franchise rises again.
“With Harry Potter season about to launch again, we’re expecting an influx of owls, so we’re preparing aviaries for that,” Nicholson said.
“People will buy a pet snake and not realise the care and attention that they need.”
Crumbs is hardly the only snake to turn up in an unusual location around Cumbria this year.
In June, Pet Encounter rescued a kingsnake from a home in Workington after a new homeowner discovered the reptile hiding inside a boiler cupboard.
The following month, the organization collected a milk snake that had been spotted on a sidewalk.
Other animal rescuers in the region have reported similar incidents.
Last month, Ulverston pet shop and rescue organization Little Beasties raised concerns about a lack of education surrounding snake ownership after a royal python was discovered in woodland near Slack Head.
That rescue came only about two weeks after workers recovered a corn snake from a drain at the Barrow Raiders rugby grounds.
Little Beasties owner Mandy Christopher said buyers are sometimes simply not given enough information before bringing a snake home.
“People are not given the right information whether a snake is right for them,” she said.
Fortunately for shoppers, Crumbs was safely removed from the supermarket — though customers checking the bread shelves may have been looking a little more carefully afterward.
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