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Snake on a Plane: Australian python makes 9,000-mile flight in woman’s shoe

Posted at 10:28 AM, Feb 25, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-25 12:28:28-05
The snake was in a shoe in Moira Boxall's suitcase. (Scottish SPCA)

The snake was in a shoe in Moira Boxall’s suitcase. (Scottish SPCA)

It’s the Samuel L. Jackson sequel we’ve all been waiting for: A Scottish woman has survived a real-life case of a snake on a plane, finding a python curled up in her shoe after a 9,000 mile flight from Australia.

Moira Boxall was shocked to discover a live spotted python in her suitcase after traveling from Queensland to Glasgow on Thursday.

The serpent had taken up residence in a shoe, and had even started shedding its skin during the lengthy journey.

The incident brings to mind the 2006 cult film “Snakes on a Plane,” in which Samuel L. Jackson plays an FBI agent battling a crate-load of deadly serpents on board a flight.

But rather than putting in a call to the Oscar-nominated actor for help, Boxall rang animal protection organization the Scottish SPCA, which took the snake into quarantine.

The python was taken into quarantine. (Courtesy Paul Airlie)

The python was taken into quarantine. (Courtesy Paul Airlie)

“I responded to a call from a woman who had just returned from a holiday in Australia who had found a small snake inside her shoe in her suitcase,” animal rescue officer Taylor Johnstone said in a statement sent to CNN.

“When I arrived, the snake had been contained by the caller, so I safely removed the snake from the property. Upon examination, the snake was found to be a spotted python which is not venomous,” Johnstone said.

“The snake is now in quarantine at our animal rescue and re-homing centre in Edinburgh.”

This isn’t the first time a snake has skipped security and made its way onto an aircraft.

In 2016, a passenger filmed the terrifying momenta snake dangled down into the cabin during an Aeromexico flight from Torreon to Mexico City.

And in 2012, an EgyptAir flight was forced to make an emergency landingafter a snake reportedly bit a Jordanian man who smuggled a reptile onboard.