ON THE SCENT: Natalie Malik yesterday hopes that the “net” result will be capturing the snake that slithered out of this bowl of potpourri at her Levittown, LI, home. (VictorAlcorn.com)
There’s a snake on the loose inside a Long Island woman’s home — but at least it smells good.
A Levittown housewife purchased a large bag of potpourri on Saturday and dumped the scented plants in a bowl on her dining room table.
Early Sunday morning, she heard a rustling from the room and found the potpourri scattered all over — and a still-damp, 8 1/2-long snake skin that had been shed in the bowl.
“It’s disgusting. There is absolutely a snake loose in my house!” said a shaken Natalie Malik, 38.
“It was in the potpourri. I am freaked out. I’m scared. I’m not sleeping at night. I’m afraid my dogs” — two Yorkshire terriers — “are in danger.”
Her husband, Jordan, is away and she’s alone in the home.
“I’m only asleep a few hours a night. I can’t sleep because of this. I’m exhausted. I’m a complete nervous wreck,” she said.
Malik, the former owner of a home-cleaning business, and other family members tore the house apart in a search for the slinky stowaway serpent.
Her father, Dominic Ciaramella, even brought over nets and rigged box traps containing crickets.
But the snake remains on the lam.
She called an exterminator — who wanted $300 to put out traps but could not guarantee a catch — and a reptile expert, who said the animal was actually a foot long because the skin on its head had not been shed.
The expert didn’t know what breed the snake is, but did say it’s probably hiding in an inaccessible spot.
“The worst part is not knowing where it is or what kind of snake it is. I put a barrier at the top of the stairs to keep it out,’’ Malik said.
She bought the potpourri at the Home Goods store in Riverhead.
She said she was told the potpourri, manufactured by a company called Sono Inc., might contain items from India.
And she’s worried because, “there are poisonous snakes in India.”
“When I found the skin, I said, ‘Oh, my God — there’s a snake here!’ If it’s a poisonous snake I don’t want it in my house!” she recalled.
A Home Goods spokeswoman, Doreen Thompson, said, “Our vendor has assured us that the manufacturing process for this product makes it highly unlikely for this to occur.
“That said, we have communicated with this customer directly to help resolve what seems to be a very unusual situation.’’