It's a snake out! Surprise intruder rattles policemen... until passing reptile experts step in

By JOSHUA HAINING, NEWS REPORTER Published: 00:11, 13 July 2026 | Updated: 00:11, 13 July 2026 At the frontline of policing they should be used to dealing with slippery characters. But little would have prepared these officers for the one that crawled into their patrol car while out on a job. Fortunately the non-venomous corn snake that took refuge in the vehicle was 'very friendly' – even if he took a bit of persuading to leave the undercarriage. The officers, from Gosport, Hampshire, had been driving when they saw a snake slithering across the road, which then slid up the wheel. PC Biggs, who revealed the incident on social media, said he 'looked like a complete lunatic' when they parked and shouted to passers-by that the snake had 'wrapped itself' around part of the car.  He tried to coax the snake out, and fortunately had the help of two passers-by, Jason Gander and his daughter Kayleigh, who were experienced with handling reptiles. With the snake moving itself further into the car's mechanism as they tried to get it out, including tempting it with a dead mouse and using a jack to lift the vehicle, a local garage came to their aid to raise the car higher and make access easier. This enabled Mr Gander to successfully extract it.  Four mechanics working together to try and get the snake - called Brian - out from the police car Spot the snake: the slippery reptilian which managed to hide itself inside the police vehicle The red and grey corn snake pictured after it was rescued and temporarily put in a cardboard box Police have asked the owner to get in touch while Brian – as they have named him – is cared for at a local reptile centre. This is not the first time snakes have had a brush with the law. In 2017, a Florida policeman squealed with horror as he battled to remove a snake from his office. The  video uploaded to Facebook showed the University of Central Florida police officer nervously approach the snake with a large black bin. But as the policeman, dressed in his UCFPD T-shirt and shorts, approaches the doorway where the snake is, he screams and darts away from it.