The Snake On The Counter

So there I was, the tele turned off and the mutts let out for their last pee stop before bed and, miracles of miracles, they all came back so I grabbed the container with the doggie treats and gave them all a biscuit.
And replaced the container on the counter and wondered at the strange irregular shape that I saw there.
It looked like, but no it couldn't be,
it was.....
A SNAKE
right there on the counter, inches away from the container with the doggie biscuits.
I grabbed my meat clever and whacked the snake who then slithered over the edge and fell on the floor, where I had to shoo the dogs away and hack at it again and again before it finally died.
Birds I will help finding their way out when they enter the house. Butterflies as well as big buzzing insects get help to exit. Even the toads are evicted alive, but not the snakes and scorpions.
Those I gleefully kill.
And as I scooped up the offending reptile and threw it out in the jungle to feed some reptile loving animals and cleaned up the bloody mess on the floor, I wondered
how did it get into the house and how did it get up on the counter?
I shall have to keep the lights on at night now and keep my cleaver sharpened.