RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Think rush hour is bad enough? What if a three-foot python were part of the drive home? The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Friday that biochemical engineer Marika Suominen-Yeh got the surprise of her life last week when a motorist flagged her down after seeing a snake drop from beneath her minivan.

Danny Markadakis, a former snake owner, waited for a lull in traffic, then scooped up the snake and took it home.

Markadakis took the three-foot ball python to Avian & Exotic Animal Care, where it was treated for a mild abdominal burns and adopted this past weekend.

Suominen-Yeh doesn't know where the snake came from, but she said she now checks around her van before getting in.