GALVESTON, Texas, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Officials with the Moody Gardens Rainforest in Galveston, Texas, said a venomous snake that disappeared for two days was found on top of its tank.

The officials said they never evacuated or closed the area when the 10-inch African bush viper went missing because they believed it may have simply been hiding within its enclosure, the Houston Chronicle reported.

However, the snake was found on a metal screen in the ceiling of its enclosure next to a grated light fixture. Officials said they do not know how the snake managed to get out of its enclosure and get into the ceiling.

Animal husbandry manager Greg Whittaker said the experience will likely lead the facility to act with more urgency when an animal cannot be found within its exhibit.

"I think that stepping up our speed at which we completely tear an exhibit apart to find the animal is going to change," Whittaker said. "Part of that will be closing down that area to the public while we do that process."

Woman finds grasshopper in canned spinach

DENVER, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A Denver-area woman says she opened a can of spinach and found half a dead grasshopper inside.

"I just think it's very gross," Donna Labrador told the Denver Post. "I will never eat another can of veggies again. Probably not spinach, anyway."

Labrador planned to saute the spinach in olive oil to make a late dinner Wednesday to share with her 3-year-old daughter, Isabella. But she said the grasshopper was such a disturbing find she skipped dinner Wednesday and breakfast Thursday morning.

She called the company that canned the spinach and got the promise of a mailer to send in the grasshopper for tests. She said she was hoping for a refund as well.

The grasshopper, wrapped up in toilet paper, was in her refrigerator. Labrador said that by Friday she might be hungry enough to resume eating -- although not canned vegetables.

Grasshoppers are eaten in many parts of the world, and experts say they can be an excellent source of protein.

Crucified frog sculpture sparks outrage

BOLZANO, Italy, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- A former Italian senator has declared a sculpture of a crucified frog displayed at a Bolzano, Italy, art museum a public obscenity.

Renzo Gubert, a Roman Catholic, said late German artist Martin Kippenberger's sculpture of a frog nailed to a cross with a mug of beer in one hand and an egg in the other violates public obscenity laws with its display at Museion, ANSA reported.

Local Bishop Wilhelm Egger said he discussed the controversial artwork with Pope Benedict XVI, who is vacationing in the nearby town of Bressanone but he didn't share the pontiff's comments on the work.

Despite the furor that erupted over the sculpture, curators at Museion have refused to remove the sculpture from display.

''Museion opposes the exploitation of the work for political propaganda,'' the museum said in a statement.

Bolzano, also called Stadt Bozen in German, is an autonomous Italian region in an area that changed hands from Austria to Italy after World War I.

Car travels 6,500 miles for oil change

LONDON, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Environmental groups blasted the owner of a Lamborghini who had the vehicle shipped from Qatar to London for an oil change.

The Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, the same model driven by Christian Bale in "The Dark Knight," cost about $40,000 to ship round-trip and $7,045 to service at an authorized London dealer, The Telegraph reported.

Environmental groups criticized the owner of the vehicle, thought to be a sheik, for sending his car on a 6,500 mile trip just to change the oil.

"This horrifies me. It is another example of how rich people exploit and pollute the planet because of their money," said Jenny Evans of the campaign group Plane Stupid.

Richard Dyer, a transport campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said the way the car was serviced was "ludicrous."

"We urge the individual to get their car serviced closer to home," he said.