Snake on a plane: Grandma unpacks luggage to find reptile in shoe
A Scottish woman called in animal experts after finding a snake in her luggage when she returned from a holiday in Australia.
Maria Boxall first thought the reptile had been put there as a practical joke by one of her family before her return flight from Queensland to Glasgow.
The snake was found in a shoe, where it had shed its skin.
The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, which took the photo above, identified the snake as a python, which is not dangerous.
Animal rescue officer Taylor Johnstone said: "I responded to a call from a woman who had just returned from a holiday in Australia who had found a small snake inside her shoe in her suitcase.
"When I arrived, the snake had been contained by the caller, so I safely removed the snake from the property. Upon examination, the snake was found to be a spotted python which is not venomous.
"The snake is in quarantine at our animal rescue and rehoming centre in Edinburgh."
The reptile is likely to be given to a zoo after it passes quarantine.
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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