Snake emerges from woman's car A/C vent on Florida road

March 17 (UPI) -- A Florida woman abruptly pulled her car to the side of the road when a snake emerged from her air conditioning vent.

Monica Dorsett saw the red rat snake poke its head out of the A/C vent near the driver's side window while she was driving along a roadway in Venice.

Her daughter, Kristina Dorsett, shared photos of the snake on Twitter and described the ordeal.

"My mom almost crashed her car today cause a snake started coming out of her vents while she was driving," she wrote.

The mother was startled by the slithering reptile and quickly swerved through traffic to the side of the road.

"I looked and I didn't see anybody in [the passenger side] mirror so I did a right turn over two lanes into a parking lot, slammed it in reverse, undid my belt and rolled out of the car as fast as I could," Dorsett told Fox 13.

She called both her husband and her family veterinarian for help as the snake continued to slither out of the vent and out through the driver's side door.

Dorsett felt relief as the snake appeared to be exiting the vehicle, but suddenly panicked and slammed the door on the snake as it started to slither back inside.

Her husband soon arrived to open the door again and, to Dorsett's dismay, had to euthanize the snake.

"I'm an animal lover and I would have never killed it on purpose," she said.

Red rat snakes are similar in appearance to venomous copperhead snakes, but do not have venom and are often kept as pets.