Why did it have to be snakes?! The official a2k Snake Lovefest thread!

Young Red-bellied Snake sitting on a quarter

A snake on a United Airlines flight sent passengers into a panic on Monday after the slithery stowaway was spotted as the plane pulled into Newark International Airport.

The plane had just landed around 1:15 p.m. after a two-hour flight from Tampa and was taxiing towards its gate when shrieks were heard from the plane’s business class section, News 12 New Jersey reported.

Terrified passengers reportedly pulled their feet up to avoid the serpent as it moved about the cabin.

It’s the time of year when Florida officials allow both amateur and professional snake hunters alike to scatter across parts of the Everglades on a mission to capture as many Burmese pythons as they can wrangle.

The annual Florida Python Challenge began last Friday and runs until 5 p.m. next Sunday, during which time participants must catch and kill the nonvenomous constrictors, which feed on the state's native fauna.

“Removing invasive pythons from across the Greater Everglades Ecosystem is critical, and we must do everything we can to combat this invasive species,” Ron Bergeron, a member of the South Florida Water Management District governing board, said in a statement.

Burmese pythons were popular pets in Florida in the late 1970s and '80s, but some owners began releasing them into the wild as early as 1979, the state said.