Video Shows 10-Foot-Long Python Surprising Shopper at Australian Supermarket

A 10-foot-long python surprised a shopper (who also happened to be a trained snake catcher) when it emerged from a shelf at an Australian supermarket.

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A shopper at an Australian supermarket very momentarily got the crap scared out of her when a 10-foot-long diamond python (non-venomous, but still) emerged from a shelf as said shopper was browsing spice jars. 

“I was in the spice aisle just looking for something to put on my chicken that night so I didn’t initially see it because it was curled up way back behind the little jars of spices,” said Helaina Alati. “I kind of turned to my right and it poked its head out.”

Alati said that her head and the snake’s head got within eight inches of one another. 

Compounding an already rare incident (even in Australia) Alati happened to be trained in snake catching. This is why we qualified the opening sentence with the words “very momentarily.”

“Thankfully, I have a background in snakes so I was pretty calm about it. It definitely shocked me a little bit because I wasn’t expecting it,” Alati added.

In a statement, the supermarket chain where this event happened (see: Woolworths) said that on Monday a “slippery and rare customer was spotted in the spice aisle.”

The brand added that “Once it was sighted, our team members reacted quickly and calmly to cordon off the area for the safety of customers.”

Alati got footage of the snake extending its body before reporting the news to the store’s staff. 

“I said: ‘I’ll go get my snake bag.’ I think they thought I was a bit crazy to be honest. I don’t think they knew what to say when I said, ‘There’s a 10-foot python in your aisle,’” Alati reported. 

She got a snake-catching bag from her house, then came back and captured the snake. She let it go in a woodlands nearby. 

Alati got training while she was volunteering for a wildlife rescue. She stated her belief that she thinks this particular reptile was a male that was trying to find a mate. 

Alati also said she knew the snake wasn’t venomous, and that its behavior wasn’t aggressive. She deemed it “chill” and said that it “slithered right into” her snake-catching bag. 

In the extremely unlikely event such a thing happens to you do attempt to do the same exact thing she did do not attempt, et cetera, et cetera. 

It’s not clear how the snake got into the store. 

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