Five friends on vacation at a resort in Don Salvador Benedicto, Negros Occidental, got the surprise of their lives when a juvenile King Cobra’s head popped out of the toilet bowl in their bathroom.
Dranreb Teodoso, an executive assistant at a venture capital firm, posted a video of the King Cobra in the toilet bowl taken on April 28.
He said at first he thought it was a water snake, but when he posted the video in a group chat of reptile enthusiasts, it was confirmed that it was a King Cobra.
Teodoso said their priest friend had just used the toilet when he saw a dark object inside the bowl. The priest thought he had failed to flush the dirt in the toilet, so he flushed it again only to see the snake’s head emerge.
He put down the lid of the bowl and told his friends not to use the toilet because there was a snake inside.
“At first we did not believe him because he is the joker in our group,” Teodoso said.
They eventually all went to the bathroom, opened the lid of the toilet, and found the snake still there.
Teodoso said it is a good thing the priest’s “forbidden fruit” was not bitten by the snake while he was sitting on the toilet bowl.
They then called the staff of the resort for help.
The snake that eventually came out of the toilet crawled onto the sink in the bathroom and was about 4 feet long, Teodoso said.
They asked the resort personnel who caught the snake not to kill it and to turn it over to the proper agency, like the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Ma. Gina Gerangaya, Northern Negros Natural Park superintendent, said this is not the first time that there has been a reported sighting of a King Cobra in Don Salvador Benedicto.
It is possible that someone is raising king cobras and one escaped, she said.
It is also possible that because of the extreme heat, the snake—which was in the wild—looked for a cool place to stay and found the toilet bowl, Gerangaya added.
The Don Salvador Benedicto municipal government in Negros Occidental is investigating the King Cobra sighting while reminding the public that wildlife is part of the town’s natural ecosystem within a protected forest zone.
The LGU noted that because Don Salvador Benedicto is situated within the Northern Negros Natural Park (NNNP), the presence of various reptile species is a “natural occurrence” and a sign of the area’s rich biodiversity.
“Our greatest asset has always been our natural beauty—lush forests, cool climate, and a harmonious coexistence with nature,” the statement read, adding that maintaining this balance is a shared responsibility between the government and the public.
To ensure safety, the municipality advised residents and tourists to:
- Exercise caution when exploring outdoor and natural areas;
- Report sightings immediately to local authorities instead of taking personal action;
- Do not disturb or attempt to capture any wild animals; and
- Coordinate with the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office for proper guidance.
Local officials assured the public that safety remains the top priority and encouraged visitors to remain calm and respectful of the environment while the situation is being monitored.*
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