Michael Hathaway thought someone was playing a prank on him.

Hathaway, the owner of Kaslo-based Mountain Man Mike鈥檚 bus service, was doing an inspection on a vehicle Friday when he spotted what he thought was a rubber snake sticking out of a heater vent.

鈥淚 figured that somebody had just jokingly added this snake to try to scare us,鈥� he said.

Hathaway continued on with his work, but when he doubled back, he realized the rubber snake was moving.

Hathaway is not a snake expert 鈥� the last time he said he鈥檇 been near a snake was in elementary school 鈥� but he knew the snake was not in good condition in the hot vehicle. Unsure if the snake was venomous or not, Hathaway grabbed a cardboard box, picked up the snake with his hands and took it home.

鈥淲hen you own a company, sometimes you just have to buck up and do it yourself,鈥� he said.

It鈥檚 not clear where the snake came from. Hathaway said the vehicle had just finished six straight days of service that took two round trip from Kaslo to Vancouver and another to Calgary.

Hathaway says he鈥檚 still working on finding the owner and also plans to take the snake to a vet for a medical check.

In Kaslo, however, the snake has found an unexpected home.

Hathaway鈥檚 wife Laurian, he said, was initially scared of the snake but has already begun bonding with it. His two children meanwhile have already named it Cream Corn.

Community members also identified it as a corn snake, which are docile and often used as pets, and chipped in for the new arrival. If they can鈥檛 find the owner, Hathaway said his family will adopt it.

鈥淲e put out a call to the community and we had people come through with tanks, heat rocks, heat lamps, basically all the snake supplies we needed to keep the snake temporarily,鈥� said Hathaway. 鈥淗e鈥檚 in a tank now and seems to be happy.鈥�

has been in operation since May 2019, but this is the first time Hathaway has had a snake as a passenger. He said it鈥檚 unlikely to happen again, but just to be safe his staff will increase spot checks on baggage.

鈥淚 think the only danger in this situation is that somebody would hurt the snake by reacting to it the wrong way.鈥�

| tyler.harper@nelsonstar.com
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