An Australian domestic flight was delayed for two hours after a stowaway snake was found in the plane’s cargo hold, officials said on Wednesday.
The snake was found on Tuesday as passengers were boarding Virgin Australia Flight VA337 at Melbourne Airport bound for Brisbane, according to snake catcher Mark Pelley.
The snake turned out to be a harmless 60-centimetre green tree snake. But Pelly said he thought it could be venomous when he approached it in the darkened hold.
"It wasn’t until after I caught the snake that I realised that it wasn’t venomous. Until that point, it looked very dangerous to me," he added.
Most of the world’s most venomous snakes are native to Australia. For quarantine reasons, the snake can’t be returned to the wild.
The snake, which is a protected species, has been given to a Melbourne veterinarian to find a home with a licensed snake keeper.
