A Scottish woman traveling home from Australia after visiting relatives made a startling discovery Friday when she found a python hiding inside one of her shoes in her luggage.
The snake, which had shed its skin during the 9,000 mile flight, somehow made its way into Moira Boxall’s luggage and onto a plane completely undetected.
Paul Airlie told ABC Australia that as Boxall, his mother-in-law, was preparing to leave she thought she had saw a snake in her room but after searching and not finding anything she continued to pack up her belongings.
It wasn’t until Boxall arrived back at her home in Glasgow and had started to unpack that she made the shocking find.
“She was not at all expecting to find the snake when she was unpacking,” he told the outlet.
Airlie said at first Boxall thought the snake was fake and assumed he and his wife, Sarah, had placed it in her shoe as a joke. Boxall quickly realized it wasn’t a prank when she poked the reptile and it started to move.
Thankfully, the snake that slithered into Boxall’s shoe was a spotted python and isn’t poisonous. According to the Australia Zoo, the spotted python grows to lengths of more than 4 feet and are one of the countries smallest snakes. They are often found living in shrubs and woodlands and near caves along the coast.
While the snake didn’t pose a threat to Boxall, Airlie said his mother-in-law is hesitant to return to Australia.
“We had to get a friend to go and unpack the rest of the bag for her in case there was another one,” he said.
“She said she’s not so keen to come back and visit, but I suspect she will — she’ll have to think about it at first.”
The python was quarantined in Scotland and is expected to be taken to a zoo in Glasgow, according to ABC Australia.
