Python Travels From Australia To Scotland, Hidden In Woman's Suitcase

A Scottish woman recently received a rude shock while unpacking after a vacation when she found a python in her luggage. BBC reports that Maria Boxall found the snake in her luggage after a vacation in Australia. The snake, a non-venomous spotted python, had travelled over 14,000 kms hiding in Ms Boxall's shoe.

Ms Boxall, who inadvertently transported it from Australia, says she initially thought it was a toy snake placed in her luggage as a joke. However, she quickly realised it was very much alive when she touched it, and it moved.

The python was then taken outside, still in the shoe, and contained until members of the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) arrived at the scene.

"When I arrived, the snake had been contained by the caller, so I safely removed the snake from the property," animal rescue officer Taylor Johnstone said in a statement to NPR. "Upon examination, the snake was found to be a spotted python which is not venomous."

Ms Boxall's son-in-law Paul Airlie narrated the story of the snake to an Australian radio station, reports BBC. He said that his mother-in-law had mentioned thinking she had seen a snake in her room in Australia.

The well-travelled python has now been placed in quarantine at an animal rescue and rehoming centre in Edinburgh.

This is not the first time snakes have managed to make it onto airplanes. In September last year, a man managed to fly from Germany to Russia while carrying 20 live snakes in his hand luggage!