Video Shows Python Hiding Inside Car: 'Look at the Size'

🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.

A massive snake was found hiding in a very unusual place, having tucked itself up behind one of the wheels of a car.

The Australian snake's rescue from its dangerous secret spot was performed by snake catcher ​​Stuart McKenzie and filmed by a friend, with the video being posted to his Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers 24/7 Facebook page on Wednesday.

"Call's just come in at a local establishment where essentially a big python was on the move in the car park, and it's gone straight up into the wheel arch or the engine bay of one of the cars, and the person's car who it is is wanting to leave," McKenzie said in the video. "So we gotta get over there now and hopefully get the snake out, nice and quick and safely, and get it back in the bush."

The video shows the python tucked away behind the front left wheel of a car.

"Jeez not a bad size! That's a very decent size, bigger than what I was expecting," McKenzie exclaims in the video.

McKenzie doesn't specify the species of python, but there are 14 species of python that live in Australia, including the carpet python, diamond python and scrub python. Pythons are usually non-venomous, instead they kill their prey by constriction, winding their long, muscular bodies around the prey and suffocating them.

australia carpet python
Stock image of a carpet python. A python that was hidden inside a car's wheel in Australia was rescued by a snake catcher. ISTOCK / GETTY IMAGES PLUS

Carpet pythons, which usually grow to around 8 feet long, are commonly found along Australia's eastern coast, and have been previously found hidden in strange places, including inside a barbeque or tangled in barbed wire.

"Carpet snakes can't kill you, but larger species can give a nasty bite if harassed or handled," snake catcher Steve Brown, of Brisbane North Snake Catchers and Relocation, previously told Newsweek. "Most of the time, they are very docile."

McKenzie then pulls the snake out of the wheel cavity, with the video showing the snake's surprising length.

"Look at the size of it! That is a big snake," McKenzie said. "It's usually not that easy to get him out of cars, but thankfully I reckon this guy's too big that he couldn't get past where he was sitting."

He then transferred the snake into a bag in order to take it somewhere safe to release it back into the wild.

The remainder of the video shows the snake winding its way up into a tree, having been freed into the wilderness.

"I'm so glad I was able to get him out of the car, and I'm glad the people obviously notified the person whose car it was before he drove off, as that would have been an absolute disaster," McKenzie said.

Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about pythons? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.

About the writer

Jess Thomson is a Newsweek Science Reporter based in London UK. Her focus is reporting on science, technology and healthcare. She has covered weird animal behavior, space news and the impacts of climate change extensively. Jess joined Newsweek in May 2022 and previously worked at Springer Nature. She is a graduate of the University of Oxford. Languages: English. You can get in touch with Jess by emailing j.thomson@newsweek.com.


Jess Thomson is a Newsweek Science Reporter based in London UK. Her focus is reporting on science, technology and healthcare. ... Read more