'Pretty little lad' - Staff shocked as snake on the loose at one of Ireland's busiest train stations

In only a matter of days before St Patrick's Day, a snake was sighted near the tracks at Kent Station in Cork, leaving staff astonished.

The incident was reported by Colm, an Irish Rail worker, this Tuesday and he spoke of the encounter in an interview with PJ Coogan on Cork's 96FM opinion line.

Speaking on the show, Colm said that his colleague Siobhán spotted the serpent and he quickly captured the footage. "It looked like a bit of cloth from where we were first," the Cork man said. 

According to Colm, he spotted the orange/brown snake and returned to the location in an attempt to relocate it to Fota Wildlife Park. However, upon his return, the reportedly three-foot long reptile had quickly left the area.

"We had nothing on us to pick him up," he said. "We didn't know if he was dangerous or not. We thought he might have been a corn snake but we couldn't be sure".

"We went to get gloves and a little bag too put him into," added the rail worker, "but unfortunately we couldn't find him when we went back down."

Colm agreed with PJ that the reptile must have been a lost pet. "We frantically tried to look for him as he won't survive in this weather, they need a warm climate" he assured.

When asked by PJ if the snake was aggressive, Colm added: "No, he was more frightened I think. His head was up about two inches, his eyes, and he was kind of staring at us. Then he decided to move off."

A member of the Fota Wildlife Park team was said to have been contacted to bring the snake to safety, however, it was not located at the time.

Dubbed "a pretty little lad" by PJ, another voice chuckled: "You wouldn't see too many of them in Cork, put it that way."