Big ssssurprise under the bonnet at caryard

It’s the optional extra nobody wants. When a southside car salesman popped the bonnet on his latest sale, he got a big shock.

When a salesman at a Moorooka caryard popped the bonnet yesterday morning to check the battery on his latest sale, a Nissan X-Trail, he got the surprise of his life.

Moorooka Nissan (Moorooka Motorgroup) salesman Gary Troughton was trying to prop open the bonnet on the car when he saw a large carpet snake curled up in the engine bay.

That part of the caryard, on busy Ipswich Rd, gets the morning sun so the slippery hitchhiker obviously decided it was a good spot to warm up on a cold morning.

“I’ve worked here since 1992 and this is the first time I’ve seen something like this,’’ Mr Troughton said.

The carpet snake found under the bonnet of a car at Moorooka Nissan.

“I’ve see a possum after a customer drove their vehicle into the yard, but never a snake.

“I had sold the car on the weekend and the door must have been left open because the battery was flat.

“I’d opened the bonnet because I was trying to jump start it and saw the snake lying on the battery.

“That’s when a bit of poo popped out.’’

Mr Troughton said that part of the caryard caught the morning sun and the snake, which was more than 2m long, obviously was trying to warm up on a cold morning.

“The snake catcher told me it would be sluggish. He just casually reached in and got it out,’’ Mr Troughton said.

There is a creek opposite the caryard and an adjacent park, so staff assumed the snake came from there.

The carpet snake found in the engine well of the car at Moorooka Nissan.

Snake Catchers Brisbane, Ipswich, Logan and Gold Coast said the incident had attracted a lot of social media attention.

“He (Mr Troughton) did tell me he needed new undies,’’ Snake Catchers’ Jude Mann said.

Wits piled on to a Moorooka community Facebook page to offer their thoughts.

“He was just checking the serpentine belt,’’ Grant Rafter posted.

Robin Laub commented: “Optional extra.’’

And Alessandro Ferreira posted: “Was the engine rattling or doing a hissing noise?’’

The carpet snake found under the bonnet of a car at Moorooka Nissan.