A 3-foot ball python will be reunited with its owner after hitchhiking across the state of Virginia in a U-Haul truck.
Wildlife rescuer Richard Perry said the 3-foot snake was lethargic from the cold.
"We didn't even think it would make it through the night," Perry told WRIC-TV. "It was in very, very bad shape."
The U-Haul business contacted the truck's previous renter, but they didn't know anything about a python.
"The previous driver was driving around with a three-foot python in the vehicle, in the cab, and had no idea the snake was there," Perry said.Virginia Wildlife Management and Control posted about the unusual discovery on Facebook, and word of the python eventually reached the animal's owner in Newport News, on the other side of the state.
The owner told rescuers she had rented the truck earlier and thought her pet snake had gone missing at some point during the journey. She said she had not suspected the python was still in the truck.
