While stepping out onto his driveway on Saturday morning, a man in Hervey Bay, Australia, caught sight of something unusual. Straddled between his two cars was a 6.5-foot-long snake, suspended between the tires.
“It was comfortably resting in the position the photos are taken in,” snake catcher Drew Godfrey, from Hervey Bay Snake Catchers, told Newsweek. “It was seen wandering across the driveway and it went under one car and did a poo, before climbing up the wheel and across and over to the other car.”
Godfrey shared photos from the incident to his Facebook page, Hervey Bay Snake Catchers, saying that it was a “very interesting position” for a snake.
“We’ve removed plenty of snakes out of cars before, but never seen one occupying two vehicles at once,” he said.
The snake was a non-venomous carpet python, so the homeowner was not in any serious danger. However, he still called in Godfrey to help remove it just in case.
“[Carpet pythons] are non-venomous so they don’t pose any serious threat,” Godfrey said. “However, large specimens can inflict a painful bite if harassed or injured.”
Carpet pythons can be found everywhere in Australia, except in Tasmania, according to the Queensland Department of Environment and Science. They are a large snake species that can grow to lengths of up to 13 feet long, although most do not exceed 8 feet.
According to the Melbourne Museum, there are at least six subspecies of carpet python across Australia. The interesting thing about this snake was that it did not look like the python subspecies commonly found in the Hervey Bay area. “The coloration matches that of the Murray darling carpet python which is not found locally in our region,” Godfrey said.
This led Godfrey to believe that the snake was an escaped pet. “If anyone’s lost a pet Murray darling carpet python in Urangan, please let us know ’cause I think we might have found it,” Godfrey said in the Facebook post. “You’ll need photos of the snake to match the pattern as well as a valid reptile license and the paperwork for proof of ownership.”
Godfrey said it is actually not too unusual to find escaped pets: just two weeks ago, he caught another escaped pet in the area, this time hiding by a resident’s shed.
To prevent the snake from slithering up under the car, Godfrey carefully coaxed it out from its unusual resting place. “I gently picked it up and nursed the body and front end while I tickled its tail which was down in behind the wheel,” he said. “It was very gentle and relaxed.”
The Facebook post has received dozens of likes and shocked comments from other users.
“Good sized serpent,” said one user.
“That is huge Drew,” said another.
However, so far no one has come to claim the snake. “I’ll talk to DES [Department of Environment and Science] if we can’t find an owner about what they want me to do with it, but hopefully we find its home,” Godfrey said.