Family orders TV online - with added snake

An Edinburgh family got an unexpected bonus with the TV they ordered online - a stroppy 10-inch python which required the attendance of the local ophidian SWAT team.

The Sighthill e-shoppers were unpacking the telly when the slippery Sid put in his unscheduled appearence, the Scotsman reports. A three-year-old lad first sighted the beast slithering from the packaging, and screamed accordingly. This prompted the python to rear and show its fangs, which in turn obliged the family to retreat to another room into which they barricaded themselves.

Doreen Graham, a spokeswoman for the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA), who attended the scene, explained: "The snake would probably have been a bit dopey due to the heat in the room, but the reaction of the child startled the python so it reared and showed its fangs."

The beast was later identified as a non-venemous Children's Python, probably from Northern Oz or Malaysia. The SSPCA has inevitably named the little fella "Monty" and is looking to rehome him.

Disappointingly for those of us who like proper background detail with our snake emergency stories, the Scotsman fails to note the make and model of the television in question. ®