ROYAL OAK, Mich. – Workers at a car dealership in Ferndale were shocked Wednesday when they found a python on the sidewalk.
"I'm relaxing and heard banging on the door," sales manager Eric Hay said. "I saw a customer standing out there and I'm wondering why he's banging on the door."
As Hay got closer to the front door, he followed the customer's hand gestures and was shocked to see a 5-foot python trying to get inside Ferndale Honda.
"The customer is out there going, 'I know,' and I was saying, 'Oh, my gosh,'" Hay said.
By then, the word had spread throughout the dealership that there was a serpent snuggled on the sidewalk.
"Wow, a python," service advisor Cliff Howard said. "On Woodward. It's a python."
The snake never got inside, but the workers didn't want to see it get hurt. Plus, the snake was blocking the way out.
"The snake is actually, literally, right here, crawling that way," Hay said.
"I went around, grabbed a box, came around to the side, scooped the snake up," Howard said.
But the python didn't want to crawl inside the box, so Howard had to use his hands.
"From where I picked it up, I felt safe," Howard said. "I thought it was a safe situation and I just did it."
After capturing the python, the people at the dealership didn't know where to take it.
"Ferndale police, God love them, but they say they work on dogs only," Hay said. "We called the zoo."
"Nobody wanted to take it so we tried to make the right decision and put it in the right environment," Howard said.
They dropped the python off at the home of someone who cares for other animals. Now, they have an interesting story to tell.
"It was exciting to see something that close," Howard said.