Shoppers hunting for bread at a UK supermarket got a little surprise when a baby corn snake was spotted slithering through the bread aisle. This unexpected discovery, however, has drawn attention to a much a bigger issue that exotic pet rescuers are currently facing. The little snake, now named Crumbs, was found at a Heron Foods store in Maryport, Cumbria. Staff noticed her before she was taken to a local vet and later moved to Pet Encounter, an animal education organisation based in nearby Workington.

It’s still a mystery how she ended up in the supermarket. There’s no confirmation that Crumbs was intentionally left behind, so she might have just escaped and wandered in. What we do know is that the organisation was already swamped with an unusually high number of snakes needing help and homes when Crumbs was discovered.

Pet Encounter takes in more snakes

So far in 2026, Pet Encounter has taken in 21 snakes, compared to only 14 for all of 2025. This increase means they’ve already taken in seven more snakes this year than last year, and there’s still time left in 2026.

These numbers reflect the snakes coming into their care. They don’t necessarily indicate a national rise in snake abandonment but do show the added strain on the Cumbria organisation. Pet Encounter focuses mainly on animal education, not just on being a typical reptile rescue center. So, dealing with animals like Crumbs adds a new layer to their work.

Crumbs receives veterinary care

After being found in the store, Crumbs was taken for a veterinary check up before arriving at Pet Encounter. The young corn snake got an examination and an electrolyte bath before making her way to the organisation. They named her Crumbs after the spot where she was found.

The unusual setting of her discovery made headlines, instead of being found in a garden or natural habitat, she ended up in a supermarket, right among the shelves of one of the most common shopping items, how she got to the bread aisle is still not known.

The demands of keeping exotic pets

Snakes need proper enclosures and environmental conditions suited to their species. Their owners must be ready to maintain those conditions for the snakes’ entire lives. So, owning an exotic pet often means dealing with specialist equipment and ongoing costs, not just the initial price of buying the animal.

This issue is crucial for rescue organisations, as an owner who can no longer provide proper care must find a suitable place for the animal. The growing workload at Pet Encounter has made them think about how they can keep helping animals while also focusing on education.

Other snakes found in unexpected places

Crumbs isn’t the only snake that’s been found in a strange spot. Pet Encounter has also dealt with a king snake that was discovered in a boiler cupboard after someone moved into a new home in Workington. Then there was a milk snake found on a pavement, which was also taken in by the organisation. These incidents show the range of situations where privately kept reptiles end up needing help.

Another local group, Little Beasties in Ulverston, has faced similar odd cases. They’ve rescued a royal python found in a wooded area near Slack Head and pulled a corn snake out of a drain at the Barrow Raiders rugby ground. The group has raised concerns about whether new owners fully understand what it takes to keep a snake before committing to the idea.

Discovering the Snake 

The sight of a tiny corn snake slithering through a supermarket bread aisle is unusual enough to spark conversation, but Crumbs’ story also draws attention to the influx of animals at local rescue groups.  While this doesn’t prove that snake abandonment is on the rise across Britain, and we still don’t know exactly how Crumbs ended up in that supermarket, her story shines a light on an ongoing issue.

In Portugal, supermarket shelves are turning into quite the battleground. For Mercadona, the challenge isn’t about getting people through the door, after all, the Spanish chain is drawing in more Portuguese shoppers and rapidly expanding across the country. However, when it comes to where these customers spend their weekly grocery money, Lidl is increasingly emerging as the preferred choice.

This makes the latest numbers particularly telling for Mercadona. Even with its growing footprint in Portugal, the gap between these two Spanish competitors has widened to 6.4 percentage points. Lidl now holds 13.8% of the grocery market, while Mercadona lags at 7.4%.

Lidl pulls ahead

Data from Worldpanel by Numerator for the first half of 2026 shows a crucial difference between the two chains. While Mercadona is connecting with more households, Lidl is getting its customers to shop more often. This strategy is helping Lidl solidify its market position without just relying on opening more stores. That’s where the real competition lies between these retailers.

Mercadona made its debut in Portugal back in July 2019, launching its first store in Vila Nova de Gaia. Since then, it has built a strong network and aims to reach the Algarve by the end of 2026. The Portuguese wing of its business reported revenues of €2.092 billion in 2025, up 18% from the year before, and profits catapulted from €7 million in 2024 to €26 million. Still, this impressive growth hasn’t resulted in a similar rise in market share.

Mercadona attracts more households

In the first half of 2026, Mercadona’s market share dipped by 0.1 percentage points to 7.4%, while Lidl gained 1.3 points, climbing to 13.8%. This puts Lidl comfortably ahead of Mercadona as the competition in Portugal’s supermarket scene heats up. The difference seems to stem from consumer behaviour.

Portuguese households are becoming more inclined to split their shopping across various supermarkets, picking where to shop based on factors like price, convenience, product selection, and overall value. For Lidl, this trend is working in its favor. Its growth has significantly come from existing customers shopping more frequently, thereby fostering a stronger relationship with them rather than just trying to reel in new shoppers.

Why Lidl is gaining ground

On the other hand, Mercadona has succeded in reaching more Portuguese households. The percentage shopping at Mercadona rose from 53.1% to 55.6%. However, this increase hasn’t translated into a more substantial shopping frequency, basket sizes, or spending per visit.

Its narrower product range might also be a barrier to turning new customers into regular shoppers. Worldpanel by Numerator points out that Portuguese consumers tend to mix their purchases among different chains, influenced by factors like brand variety.

Continente and Pingo Doce still dominate

However, above these two Spanish contenders, Portugal’s well-established supermarket giants continue to lead the way. Continente maintained a 27.6% market share in the first half of the year, despite a slight drop of 0.3 percentage points, while Pingo Doce bolstered its position to 22.3%, gaining 0.9 points. Combined, these two chains represent exactly half of the grocery market in Portugal.

Mercadona faces a bigger challenge

So, while Lidl isn’t claiming the entirety of Portugal’s supermarket market, its rising performance against Mercadona is hard to overlook. As Mercadona keeps opening new stores and reaching more households, Lidl has figured out how to encourage its existing customers to shop more often.

For Mercadona, the challenge is no longer just about getting Portuguese consumers to give them a try, it’s about convincing them to make Mercadona a larger part of their regular shopping trips.

Divers off Almuñecar have captured images of a blue shark, known locally as a tintorera, swimming near the surface in daylight. Footage from last Sunday comes from Open Water La Herradura, a dive firm that runs authorised marine wildlife trips on Granada’s Costa Tropical.

Big pelagic animals are turning up more often in these waters. This latest clip, shown on national TV station Telecinco, shows a sleek open-ocean hunter in conditions that usually keep it out of sight.

What the footage shows

Open Water La Herradura diving school recorded the animal in open water, not in a packed bathing zone. Staff say the outing was under a permit from Spain’s Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), with professionals in charge and the usual rules applied.

Blue sharks already use the Granada coast. Crews from the same company say climate change is also bringing in other species that were once far harder to find here. Similar wildlife trips from the firm have previously put fin whales on camera off La Herradura and Torrox.

Why a daytime surface swim is unusual

Aula del Mar at the University of Granada describes the blue shark as an open-water species that can reach four metres. It has a slim body, a long pointed snout, large eyes and serrated triangular teeth in the upper jaw.

These sharks roam thousands of kilometres. Night work at 60 to 300 metres is their usual pattern, which is why a shallow daytime pass off Almuñecar caught people’s attention. Fish and molluscs make up most of the diet, so attacks on marine mammals or seabirds are not the norm.

Mediterranean blue sharks are in a worse state than the global stock. IUCN lists the species as Near Threatened worldwide and Critically Endangered in the Mediterranean, mainly because of fishing.

No reason to panic on the sand

Open Water La Herradura is clear that a tintorera in the Med does not equal danger for holidaymakers. It is part of the local sea, and this species needs protection more than it needs panic.

If one appears, stay calm, keep a sensible gap and do not touch, chase or try to “help” it. Anyone already in the water should move away slowly and leave the sea if that feels safer.

Costa Tropical has seen other large sharks this year. A shortfin mako was reported several miles off Almuñecar in April, well away from swimming areas. A wider look at where sharks turn up around Spain puts this sighting in context rather than treating it as a freak event.