Toronto Police dealt with an unusual call from an east-end residence on Thursday -- they encountered five snakes, including one that's highly venomous.
In a news release issued Friday, police say they went to a home in the Queen Street East and Greenwood Avenue area following a noise complaint.
One of the snakes was a Gaboon Viper snake. It measured 1.3 metres in length and was 25 centimetres in diameter.
Const. Tony Vella, a Toronto Police spokesperson, told ctvtoronto.ca that the snake was secured within the apartment.
Encyclopedia Britannica's online edition calls it an "extremely venomous but usually docile ground-dwelling snake found in tropical forests of central and western Africa."
A full-grown Gaboon Viper snake can grow up to two metres in length and a weight of eight kilograms. It is considered to have the largest fangs in the world, measuring four cm in length.
Police are still investigating. There is no word yet about whether any charges will arise. Vella said there is an exotic pets bylaw in Toronto.
"She was in possession of a dangerous snake in her apartment. So the question is, how was it brought to her location," he said.
Vella said the police don't get many snake calls.
If a Gaboon does get its teeth into someone, it can cause some damage.
"A bite from this snake, not only do you get a lot of venom, but it goes deep into the body, so that's particularly dangerous," said the Toronto Zoo's Bob Johnson.
In October 2008, a Gaboon viper bit a 31-year-old Winnipeg man in the face, leaving him with life-threatening injuries. Doctors had to wait for antivenin to be flown in from Toronto before he could be properly treated.
"I just got too close and she struck and she bit me on the lip," Gerrard Brown told CTV Winnipeg after he got out of hospital.
