HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — Nate the snake is back with its owner. But not after giving a U-Haul worker a scare.
The ball python was found in the cab of a U-Haul truck in Henrico County on Wednesday, WTKR-TV reported.
Dion Malik Jones, 14, and his family drove in a U-Haul truck in Virginia from Winchester to Norfolk this week, but Nate escaped from his cage, WTVR reported.
Richard Perry, who owns Virginia Wildlife Management and Control, said he received a call from Megan Seymour, who manages the U-Haul rental location in Henrico County, according to WTKR.
“I opened up the truck door and she was just curled up on the inside,” Seymour told the television station. “Just sitting on the floorboard.”
Asked what her reaction was after discovering the reptile, Seymour slammed the door of the truck shut.
Jones’ mother, Bobbie Jo Brewer, said she assumed the snake had crawled out of the vehicle and was lost.
“We just knew that it was cold, so, we just looked in the engine, everything, thinking it would find somewhere warm,” Brewer told WTVR. “But, we couldn’t find it.”
Perry said the python was lethargic after she was removed from the vehicle, WTKR reported. It took some care, but the snake managed to recover, he told the television station.
“Inside of a cab of a truck, where there’s no heat unless it’s running all the time -- (the chances of survival are) slim to none,” Perry told WTVR. “I mean, that snake was literally on its last breath.”
By Friday, Nate was reunited with its owner.
“I’m really happy. Yes, look at him. He looks so happy,” Jones told WTVR.
The boy’s snake is named for his late father, who was murdered last year, according to the television station. So getting his back was an important connection.
“It meant something like a spiritual animal (to me),” Jones said. “Reunited with my snake, I feel like it’s awesome.
“Happy that it survived so that I could be here today to be with my snake and to be able to take it home and have it.”
