snake pearson airport

Video shows an actual snake on the loose at Toronto Pearson Airport

It was just another (ab)normal day at Toronto-Pearson International Airport this week when an actual snake was filmed on the loose at the travel hub's baggage claim area.

A video captured on Monday and shared to TikTok shows what could have easily passed as a sequel to the confusing 2006 cult hit Snakes on a Plane, provided Samuel L. Jackson was nearby to scream obscenities for lolz.

@inamarimaki

never a dull moment in this city

♬ sonido original - ♫ ♪ 𝒴𝒶𝓃𝒿𝓊𝓁𝓂𝒶𝓇𝓉 ♫ ♪

The clip shows a man approach the snake for a closer look, only to nope out of the situation once confirming it was the real thing. Eventually, a brave security guard stands in as a snake-catcher, using a combination of a towel and a plastic bag to immobilize the slithering animal.

Based on the markings (and I am by no means a snake expert, so take my analysis with a grain of salt), I'd say that this was a nonvenomous eastern garter snake, which is indeed native to this region.

A representative of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which operates Pearson, confirms that the snake video was filmed on Monday night around 9:15 p.m. in the Terminal 1 International Baggage Hall and that the animal was captured and removed by security.

TikTok user @inamarimaki tells blogTO that "We were first made aware there was a snake when people started screaming, then everyone distanced themselves from it, and a worker came about 4-5min later to try and capture it."

"He was trying to capture it for about 10min; from there, my bags had come, and I left. When I left, he was still holding onto it, waiting for someone else."

The clip is, somehow, not the most alarming snake-related video captured in Toronto this year. Back in May, a man was filmed attacking someone using a live snake as a weapon. The man was arrested, and, unfortunately, the innocent snake was killed in the unconventional melee.

Here's hoping that this is the last snake I have to write about this year/ever.

Lead photo by

inamarimaki/TikTok


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