Snakes On A Plane… Again

by Elizabeth Seward on

Snakes on a plane is a ridiculous movie concept, but the release of the movie has certainly helped us all to pay a bit more attention to real-life snakes on a plane scenarios. A Qantas flight from Australia to Japan was delayed for a full day recently when a Mandarin rat snake was discovered on board. Mandarin rat snakes are nonvenomous and small — adults don’t usually grow any longer than seven inches, though this particular snake was eight inches long. The snake was removed and eventually euthanized.

Other stories of snakes on a plane:

95 Live Boa Constrictors On A Plane
4 Snakes On A Plane
4 Baby Pythons On A Plane
Thousands Of Snakes On A Plane
14 Royal Pythons On A Plane

Mediocre Accommodations Even Make Snakes Feel Uncomfortable

by Anna Brones on

There’s nothing worse than a night in a bad motel. A creaky bed, the stale scent of cigarettes and scratchy sheets will make anyone cringe. The only thing worse? Being stuck in a motel room in a plastic storage container, like the 40 pythons that were found by Canadian authorities last week in a motel in Brantford, a city about 60 miles outsides of Toronto.

The snakes, ranging from 1 foot to 4 1/2 feet in length, after having been improperly stored in plastic bins were in distress when found. Who wouldn’t be?

Of course it’s not the first time that animals and travel have intersected in weird ways. Customs agents are known for coming across situations like snakes and geckos strapped to a passenger, and it’s not unheard of that people smuggle animals on planes, sometimes even odd animal combinations like parrots and squirrels.

According to the motel, the snakes belonged to a couple that had checked into a room for the night but had left when the police arrived. You aren’t allowed to own pythons in the city of Brantford, much less take them to a motel for the evening. They probably would have preferred five stars.

Photo Of The Day: Monks, Monkeys And A Snake Charmer

by Chris Owen on

This Photo of the Day, titled “Monkeys, Monks, and a Snake Charmer is Today’s Virtualvacay #srilanka,” comes from Gadling Flickr pool member and travel photographer Jen Pollack Bianco.

On Flickr as MyLifesATrip, and hosting a website of the same name, Bianco has also graced the pages of Gadling with some helpful tips on travel photography.

This photo is timely right now as Sinhala Ravaya, a Sinhalese Buddhist pressure group, staged a march this week to protest the repeated attacks against Buddhist monks in Tamil Nadu. Here, we see a different scene depicted. Bianco’s work depicts snake charming, the practice of pretending to hypnotize a snake by playing an instrument.

In addition to the Gadling pool, this photo appears in an interesting Flickr set called A Picture Per Day, which we see others mimic on Flickr, Tumblr, Instagram and other photo-sharing venues too.

It’s a way of sharing our lives with, literally, a snapshot of what is going on with us at any given point in time; what we see or do that can bring us closer to friends and family that may be far away.

Sound like a good idea? Your photos don’t have to be of some iconic destination. After all, how many of us are able to do that day in and day out?

My best friend has been doing this for a couple years now. Including photos of a beautiful sunset while stuck in traffic on the way home from work, a flower blooming in her front yard or some other image she captures going about a day.

Some share these with the world or include only family and friends.

Want to be featured? Upload your best shots to the Gadling Group Pool on Flickr. Several times a week we choose our favorite images from the pool as a Photo of the Day.

Tips for being featured: add a caption describing the image and (better yet) your personal experience when capturing it, details of the photography gear used and any tips you might have for others wanting to emulate your work.

Now, you can also submit photos through Instagram; just mention @GadlingTravel and use the hashtag #gadling when posting your images.

[Photo Credits Flickr user MyLifesATrip]

Cobras cause panic on train in Vietnam

by Sean McLachlan on


Passengers on a train in Vietnam got an unwelcome shock when dozens of cobras and king cobras were seen slithering under the seats.

The train, traveling from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi, was stopped at Quang Ngai when the incident happened. Apparently someone was smuggling the animals when they broke loose. Police gathered up 45 kilos (99lb) worth of snakes but didn’t find the smuggler.

Cobra is a popular dish in Vietnam, even though the poisonous reptiles are legally protected. Check out this video for a rather gruesome look at how one is prepared for a ten-course meal.

While snakes on a train are something new, there have been several incidents of snakes on a plane. Last year Abu Dhabi police arrested a passenger carrying four pythons on a plane. Back in 2008, smugglers shipped several boxes of snakes on a Vietnamese plane.

Abu Dhabi police find snakes on a plane … and squirrels and parrots

by Tom Johansmeyer on

You know that the United Arab Emirates is not to be outdone, right? So, when an 89-year-old lady’s dog gets loose on an American flight, the Middle East has to find a way to trump it. And, you know it was better than a dog and a cat or an angry monkey.

On a flight from Indonesia to the United Arab Emirates, a passenger was reported to have “four snakes, two parrots and a squirrel inside a box” … not to mention other animals! I seriously want to know how the hell this stuff made it onto the plane!

Though the police in Abu Dhabi didn’t reveal the snake species, a newspaper in Dubai hit up a few experts and said they were “reticulated and blood pythons, both non-venomous,” according to the Associated Press.

[photo by goingslo via Flickr]