- A traveler in Florida tried to bring a snake on a flight, with the animal in her luggage
- She told TSA officers that the boa constrictor was her "emotional support pet."
A woman in Florida tried to bring a snake through airport security calling it an emotional support animal, according to a Transportation Security Administration spokesperson.
The boa constrictor, named Bartholomew, was found inside a traveler's carry-on luggage at Tampa International Airport.
"Coiled up in a passenger's carry-on was a 4' boa constrictor!" TSA said in an Instagram post on Friday. "We really have no adder-ation for discovering any pet going through an x-ray machine."
A photo posted by the agency shows the snake curled up in the corner of the bag.
—Lisa Farbstein, TSA Spokesperson (@TSA_Northeast) January 6, 2023
The traveler, identified as a woman, told airport officials that the snake was " her emotional support pet," the spokesperson said. TSA told her that she could not bring the constrictor on the plane.
In November, TSA officers discovered an orange cat in an X-ray image inside a checked bag at JFK airport, as Insider previously reported. The cat did not belong to the traveler and was safely returned to its owner.