[Nigel C]

From http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news...0416-a7vh.html

Four snakes ground Qantas plane

April 16, 2009 - 9:14AM
Four baby snakes grounded a Qantas plane in Melbourne after they made a doomed bid for freedom during a flight from Alice Springs.

The four baby Stimson's pythons were found to be missing from their container on Tuesday when the flight arrived in Melbourne.

The 15cm snakes were among 12 pythons in a container in the Boeing 737-800's cargo hold, a Qantas spokeswoman said.

Two flights had to be cancelled while staff searched for the missing snakes, but they could not be found.

The plane was fumigated and returned to service the following day, the spokeswoman said.

Stimson's pythons, which can grow up to one metre long, are not venomous and live in western and central Australia.