I guess the Roomba owner thought it was a viper and the journalist was happy for a more dramatic story.

It was a “Coluber jugularis” – http://bit.ly/7752TD .

The Roomba can still be considered a hero, though, since it couldn’t have known the difference :-)

A few days ago Efi Frida(39) returned to her home in Mizpe Avtalyon in the Galilee and tried to turn on her Roomba. after a few failed tries Efi opened the machine and to her surprise found that during one of the vacuuming sessions it caught a Vipera palaestinae. The Roomba is built to vacuum the dust independently under beds and cabinets.

About six months ago Efi and her husband Eli(41) purchased the robot in order to assist them in the household cleaning where two children Jonathan (7) and Yael (4) in addition to two cats and two dogs. “its like having an au pair” Eli says.

One evening last week Efi turned the robot on and left the house. When she returned she tried to turn it back on though it kept beeping and getting stuck. When she opened the machine she discovered that the machine prevented the small viper from occupying the home and hurting her young children. “He was probably looking for a place to hide in one of the rooms because of the upcoming winter.” Eli explains.

The snake was wound thoroughly around the cleaning wheel and has received injuries to his head. by the time Eli returned home the viper died of its wounds. “I like snakes, so for me its somewhat a tragic ending” says Eli.

Eli quickly informed “IRobot” of the situation who were excited to hear of the story and sent the Frida family a remote as compensation. “We were very lucky”. sums Eli. “If the snake would have hid in the house and bitten one of the children it could have ended badly”