A PASSENGER boarded a Manchester bus with a boa wrapped around his neck yesterday – but not the feathery kind.
The man hopped on the vehicle in Salford with a huge SNAKE on his shoulders, to the shock of other travellers.
6Brave passengers avoided hyssssteria when a man with a snake wrapped around his neck boarded a bus in Manchester yesterdayCredit: MEN Media
6As the six-mile journey progressed, the man let the creature wrap itself around the hand rails on the busCredit: MEN Media
He had the creature around his face and nose as he boarded the bus for the journey from Swinton to Manchester.
But as the six-and-a-half mile drive unfolded, the passenger took the snake from around his shoulders – and let it wrap itself around the hand rails.
One witness, who did not wish to give her name, told the ManchesterEvening News the sight was “definitely entertaining”.
The 46-year-old, from Swinton, said: “He had it wrapped around hisface like a mask getting on the bus.
“At first I thought he had a really funky mask on, then he let itcrawl around the hand rails.
“No one was really bothered on the bus but a man behind took a video.
“It was definitely entertaining.”
Now officials have joked that the creature doesn’t count as a face mask.
Using a face covering on public transport is mandatory, except for those who are exempt for reasons of age, health or disability.
A Transport for Greater Manchester spokesperson said: “Government guidance clearly states that this needn’t be a surgical mask, and that passengers can make their own or wear something suitable, such as a scarf or bandana.
“While there is a small degree of interpretation that can be applied to this, we do not believe it extends to the use of snakeskin – especially when still attached to the snake.”
6One passenger said she initially believed the man was wearing a “really funky mask” as the snake was covering his face
6And rather than being rattled, others travelling towards Manchester city centre ‘weren’t really bothered’
The unexpected traveller may have looked huge – but it’s a tiddler compared to one of the biggest snakes in captivity, which belongs to a Gloucestershire dad-of-two.
Marcus Hobbs, 31, initially bought an eight-inch python, which he called Hexxie.
But in adulthood the creature measures a whopping 18 FEET – and feasts on deer, goats, calves and pigs supplied by local farmers.
The pet costs thousands of pounds to keep and could be lethal if mishandled, squeezing a human to death in minutes and swallowing them whole.
Although Marcus says he doesn’t believe Hexxie is dangerous, he keeps the creature away from his young sons.
He said: “I think people are so scared of snakes because they think they are going to kill them – but if people come around I can talk to them all day long about snakes to reassure them.
“[But] I would not get her out with the boys around. I would only do it while they were in bed or another room.
“I don’t think she’d be dangerous towards them but you have to use your common sense and I’m a responsible pet owner.”
Experts say the biggest ever Burmese python was 18ft 8ins but Marcus think Hexxie is even bigger.
He says when he last measured his pet of eight years she was over 18ft – and has grown a lot since then.
And this summer, a (fortunately much smaller) snake rattled a granddad when it fell from a tree.
Retired Chris Tredwell was walking his daughter’s dogs in Hartsholme Country Park, Lincoln when the 3ft reptile “brushed past his nose” as it plunged out of the sky.
He said: “I didn’t half jump.
“I’ve enough trouble avoiding coronavirus without dealing with snakes.”
6Hexxie is one of the biggest snakes in captivityCredit: SWNS:South West News Service
6The 18-foot python feasts on deer, goats, calves and pigs
