A Scottish woman received the fright of her life last week after discovering a snake curled up in her shoe following a flight back home from Australia.
Moira Boxall returned home to Glasgow on Friday after spending time in the Land Down Under visiting family but was soon stopped in her tracks as she began unpacking her suitcase.
Instead of just finding the usual clothes, toiletries and souvenirs, she also discovered an unlikely guest making itself comfortable in one of her shoes, the ABC reports. The spotted python had somehow managed to make its way inside her bag and hitched a ride all the way from Australia.
Speaking to the ABC following the incident, Moira’s son-in-law Paul Airlie said it was certainly a surprise for his family member who had never even seen a snake before.
He told the news outlet Moira had seen a snake in her room at his home in Queensland before they left but they hadn’t been able to track down where it had gone. But obviously it had found the perfect hiding place in her shoe.
“She actually thought that Sarah (wife) and I had put a fake snake in her shoe to wind her up, so at first she thought it was a joke until she touched it and it moved,” Paul explained.
“She absolutely lost it – it was her first real encounter with a snake.”
In a photo shared by Paul on Facebook the creature can be seen curled up tightly into the shoe, with part of its skin coming away.
After the initial fright Moira apparently took the whole shoe outside with the snake inside and placed a box over the top until help arrived.
The Scottish RSPCA made their way to her home and confirmed it thankfully wasn’t a poisonous snake but a much less dangerous python. According to the ABC it is now safely in quarantine in Scotland with the possibility of being moved to a Glasgow zoo.
After the frightening encounter Paul admitted his mother-in-law didn’t seem too eager to return to Australia any time soon, claiming it might be a while before she makes the trip again.
Snakes were certainly in the plenty over summer in Australia with several sightings over the past few months.
Just weeks ago a terrified mother was forced to flee her house after discovering a deadly eastern brown snake lurking underneath the mattress in her daughter’s cot, The Heidelberg Leader reported.
Just moments after placing her three-month-old in bed, the mum spotted the reptile which had come out of hiding The snake even reportedly pooed in the cot after hearing the mum’s screams.
Speaking to the publication following the terrible ordeal Snake catcher Heath Morehu from Heaths Snake Control said the woman claimed she never wanted to return home with two snake appearances in a matter of days.
He explained she was obviously shocked by what had occurred and frightened at the possibility that the snake could have killed her beloved child.
“Removalists are going to come and collect all of her stuff,” Morehu explained to the Heidelberg Leader.
“She told me: ‘no that’s it’. She’s not going back in there. They will be putting the house on the market.”