A driver in North Yorkshire got a shock after a snake emerged from his Ford Fiesta, after riding about 32 kilometers trapped in the engine bay.

The driver called police after parking in Scarborough on Saturday, June 13, and spotting the snake slithering out of the headlight and across the hood. Officers contacted animal rescue expert Dave Bigsby, who went to the scene.

Bigsby opened the hood and found the snake coiled around the engine block, with its head coming out of the front light. The driver had traveled from Bridlington, about 32 kilometers away, with the snake under the hood.

Bigsby, 52, who runs Lilly’s Reptile Rescue, said: “Some passersby spotted it and the driver rang 101.

“The police put them in touch with myself. I got there within 10 minutes but the snake had vanished.

“I rang 101 and then they chased the owner who came back and opened the hood for us.

“It was wrapped up in the engine bay, you can’t pull on them too much for the fear of damaging them.

“It was a case of holding onto it and waiting, I was doing that for nearly two hours.

“The Ford Fiesta had traveled from Bridlington to Scarborough which is about 20 miles.

“When it parked up it came out onto the hood and that’s when the members of the public spotted it.

“It must have slithered under the car, up into the hood and stuck on the right-hand strut spring at the back of the engine bay.

“It traveled some distance, it’s a miracle it didn’t get squashed.”

Bigsby spent two hours freeing the animal and later tracked down its owner.

He said: “I got back and tagged a lot of pages on Facebook.

“Someone got in touch and we verified the owner comparing his picture to markings on the snake. He’s coming next week to collect it.

“This has got to be one of the most unusual places to find a snake .”

Corn snakes, also known as red rat snakes, originate in North America and can grow up to 180 centimeters long.

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