Police say Maria Dominguez called 911 at about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday and said that the yellow rat snake had sneaked into her family's fourth-floor apartment.
The 37-year-old flower shop worker says she doesn't know where the creature came from.
Police trapped it with a broom and a plastic bag, and it was taken to the Center for Animal Care and Control. Animal control spokesman Richard Gentles says the snake is non-venomous, and in good health.
Dominguez says her three children didn't want to come home from school after their morning run-in with the snake.
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