A dead python stunned staff at a furniture recycling centre after falling out of a sofa.
A dead python fell out of a sofa in Scotland
The reptile was discovered as the couch was cleaned at Cunningham Furniture Recycling in Ayrshire, Scotland although how it got into the settee remains a mystery as the previous owner insisted that they were unaware of the animal's presence.
Employee Scott Mould said: "The customer who donated the sofa to us confirmed they had got it second-hand and had never kept snakes.
"So it could have been the previous owner, and the snake had been in there all this time."
Social media sleuths suggested that the snake was a royal python, a species native to West and Central Africa.
Mould added: "Quite sadly, you expect to find needles or things that might do harm, but you don't expect a snake to pop out."