A woman was shocked to find a stowaway python hidden in one of her shoes when she returned to Scotland from a vacation in Australia last week.
Moira Boxall found a spotted python in her luggage when she arrived home to Stirlingshire after a 9,300-mile flight from Queensland, Australia, The Guardian reported. The snake was curled up in one of her slip-ons and had even shed its skin during the flight inside the shoe.
Boxall’s son-in-law Paul Airlie said the woman initially thought the reptile was a toy put in there as a prank. He also said he had tried to downplay how deadly and common snakes are in Australia. When she found the snake, she first put her shoe in the garden with a box on top of it, then called Airlie for help.
Airlie called the Scottish SPCA. Scottish SPCA animal rescue officer Taylor Johnstone confirmed that a snake was removed from the premises. The snake has been placed in quarantine at the Scottish SPCA’s animal rescue and rehoming center in Edinburgh.