This Mustang Was Packing a Different Kind of Snake Under the Hood
While we’re sure the owner of this car would welcome a Cobra swap, this probably wasn’t what he had in mind.
While there’s nothing really wrong with a V6 Mustang, and they serve their intended purpose, you won’t find many enthusiasts would would eschew a V8 for one unless they had to. Thus, many four- and six-cylinder pony cars dream of V8 swaps in their rides, perhaps even a Cobra or Shelby swap. But the owner of this V6-powered Ford Mustang was briefly packing a different kind of snake under the hood – the kind that’s more likely to eat a small rodent than provide extra horsepower.
Yes, this is a 10-foot long Burmese python curled up in that engine bay, and yes, this took place in Florida – Dania Beach, to be exact. Apparently, the owner’s check engine light came on, so he took it to a local auto service shop to be looked at. And when the technicians popped the hood, they found themselves staring at the massive reptile, at which point they called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and ran next door for help.
We received a call about a python under the hood of a Mustang! https://t.co/3LiWFyj58M. Officers removed the 10′ invasive snake. If you see a Burmese python or other invasive species, report it to the Hotline at 888-Ive-Got1. #daniabeach #python #snake pic.twitter.com/FR7ekknxGv
— MyFWC (@MyFWC) October 29, 2020
That’s when the shop’s neighbor, Gerard Doffay, came over to help try and wrangle the snake out of the engine bay. The technicians apparently told Doffay that there was a snake under the hood of the Mustang, but they conveniently left out the part about just what kind of snake it was. “I thought, ‘OK, I’ll go and help them. I’ll yank it out from under the hood of their car,'” Doffay explained to WSVN News. “I wasn’t expecting that python underneath the hood of the car. That was at least 20 feet. It was a big snake. That thing had a girth of about 7 inches.”
Like a good fish tale, Doffay was exaggerating just a bit. But to his credit, this is still a pretty darn big snake. And we give him kudos for jumping right in and helping officials get it bagged and tagged. “He grabbed it by the back of the head,” Doffay said. “He started pulling it towards him, and I saw an opportunity to help and get it out from underneath the sway bar, so we grabbed it out. By that time, it was around his hands. I had to help pull his hands out from inside the coils, and we tried putting it in the bag three or four times. Eventually, it took four people.”
Things like this are probably quite common in Florida, but we can only imagine how those folks reacted when they popped the hood of this Mustang and saw that giant python sitting in there. Luckily, it seems that this snake was rather tame and didn’t really put up a fight. But as much as we love Cobras and Shelbys, this kind of snake is the last thing we’d want to come across in our engine bay.
Photo: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission/Twitter
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