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North Carolina police find pet snake missing for 2 months in Chili’s parking lot
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North Carolina police find pet snake missing for 2 months in Chili’s parking lot

Hide your entries; snakes try to get into Chili’s.

On November 5, the Shallotte Police Department in North Carolina posted on Facebook about an unusual discovery made by officers in the parking lot outside a local Chili’s.

“Today, officers were dispatched to a large snake in the Chili’s area. They encountered this python,” police said, adding that an officer recovered the reptile safely from the parking lot.

The post included two photos of the python found outside the casual restaurant. One photo shows an officer holding the snake, showing the length of the reptile. The other photo offers a close-up of the python.

After removing the snake, Shallotte police began to suspect the reptile might be someone’s missing pet. The officers were right.

The snake found outside Chili’s belonged to Christen Schiel, who had been searching for the ball python for two months.

Shallotte police officer with ball python found in Chili’s parking lot.

Shallotte Police Department


“This beautiful snake is my little girl, Una.” Schiel told WECT. “She’s the best snake anyone could have, and I’ve missed her dearly for the past two months.”

The python relative believes the missing snake ended up in her car and ran away while she was visiting Chili’s on November 5.

After Schiel heard about the snake found by the Shallotte Police Department, she knew it was Una. The couple reunited at the Brunswick Animal Shelter on November 6.

Snake found in Chili’s parking lot.

Shallotte Police Department


Schiel said finding Una “was one of the best days of my life because she means a lot to me, just like what someone’s cat or dog means to them. She’s a great companion .”

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Una isn’t the only snake to appear in an unexpected place this month. On November 5, the same day Una appeared in Chili’s parking lot, South Carolina woman discovered a python behind her toilet. The woman was shocked because she did not own a pet python.

The Richland County Sheriff’s Department removed the snake from the home and is dealing with it to see if a homeowner comes forward to claim the python, which the agency says is a pet.