Snake stows away from Australia to Scotland in woman's shoe

Feb. 25 (UPI) -- A Scottish woman returned from visiting family in Australia to discover a snake had hitched a ride across the globe in her shoe.

Moira Boxall, 72, returned to Glasgow from visiting her daughter and son-in-law in Queensland, Australia, and was unpacking her bag when she discovered the serpent coiled up in one of her shoes.

"She had woken up a few days before she left and thought she had seen a snake in her room and woke me up at 3:00 in the morning to check," her son-in-law, Paul Airlie, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

"We searched the room and there was no snake. However, it turns out there was a snake, as it had gone and hidden in her shoe," he said.

He said Boxall was unpacking her bag at home when she made the discovery.

"She actually thought that Sarah and I had put a fake snake in her shoe to wind her up, so at first she thought it was a joke until she touched it and it moved," he said.

The Scottish SPCA was called to Boxall's home and removed the stowaway snake, a non-venomous spotted python.

"When I arrived, the snake had been contained by the caller, so I safely removed the snake from the property," Scottish SPCA animal rescue officer Taylor Johnstone told The Scotsman.

"Upon examination, the snake was found to be a spotted python which is not venomous," she said. "The snake is now in quarantine at our animal rescue and rehoming center in Edinburgh."

The SPCA said the snake could soon have a new home at a Scottish zoo.