Snakes on a plane

Australia: In a situation echoing the movie, 4 baby snakes grounded a Qantas plane in Melbourne after they made a failed escape attempt during a flight from Alice Springs. The 4 baby Stimson’s pythons were found to be missing from their container on Tuesday when the flight arrived in Melbourne.The 15cm snakes were among 12 pythons in a container in the Boeing 737-800’s cargo hold, a Qantas spokeswoman said. 2 flights had to be cancelled while staff searched for the missing snakes, but they could not be found. The plane was fumigated and returned to service the following day, the spokeswoman said.
Stimson’s pythons, which can grow up to 1 metre long, are not venomous and live in western and central Australia.

Pet dog found living the life of a castaway

Australia: Amazingly, a pet dog which was washed overboard and believed drowned has been found 4 months later – as a castaway on a remote Australian island.

The dog – Sophie Tucker, disappeared as her owners -Jan and Dave Griffith sailed through stormy waters off the coast of Queensland in November last year. However, unbeknown to the grieving owners, Sophie survived a long swim across shark-infested waters to an island. (St Bees)She survived on the island, living on  a diet of baby goats until being found by visiting rangers. The Griffiths were amazed to hear of the discovery and have now been reunited with their pet.