Passengers on a flight from Florida to New Jersey discovered after landing that an uninvited guest had tagged along for the ride.
A garter snake was found on United Airlines Flight #2038 from Tampa to Newark on Monday.
A passenger on the flight told News 12 New Jersey that business class travelers started shrieking and pulling their feet up as the plane was taxiing after landing.
United Airlines told The Washington Post that passengers alerted crew to the snake and the airline called authorities to take care of the situation.
Police and the airport’s wildlife operations staff then removed the reptile from the plane, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement to The Washington Post.
Nobody was harmed and the snake was later released into the wild.
Garter snakes are common throughout Florida. They usually range between 18 to 26 inches long and are not venomous or aggressive to humans, though they do bite to defend themselves, per the Florida Museum. Virtually all bites occur when the snakes are “intentionally molested.”
