I am not sure about you but I do not like snakes. Especially if they were misplaced – on a plane. This was exactly what happened on a small domestic flight from a village in Alaska to Anchorage. The pilot announced over the intercom that a passenger from the previous flight had forgotten her ‘pet’ snake and urged anyone who sees it to inform the crew.
Fortunately, this snake was not classified as poisonous but a sleepy head. The sleepy snake was eventually spotted by a little boy — one of seven passengers on the Ravn Alaska flight from Aniak to Anchorage on Sunday — when he was climbing on his seat. It was lying partially covered by a duffel bag near the back of the plane.
The snake was picked up by the flight attendant and the pilot – courageously – and spent the rest of the flight in a black rubbish bag in the overhead compartment. The snake was between 1 – 1.5m long and the owner did not get an approval for her pet to fly. He only informed the airline when he forgot to retrieve it upon arriving in Aniak but the plane has left on the return trip to Anchorage.
Ravn Alaska does not allow any large animal that’s not a dog to be used as a service animal and most airlines/countries have strict requirements on bringing pets across borders. You might want to check IATA regulations here when you bring a pet with you onboard next time.
