ALOR GAJAH: Truck driver Mohd Sukri Mondi experienced a tense moment when he discovered a batik python hitchhiking on his truck.
The 35-year-old driver had stopped to use the restroom at the Simpang Ampat Toll Plaza when the incident happened.
"I thought it was a black plastic bag stuck on the back of the truck, but when I tried to grab it, it moved, and the batik python's head faced me," said Mohd Sukri.
He immediately contacted the Malaysian Civil Defence Force (APM) for assistance.
Mohd Sukri said that he had no idea where the snake came from but suspected it had slipped under his five-ton truck parked near a river in Subang, Selangor.
"When I stopped at the Seremban Rest and Relax (RnR) area, the snake didn't appear, and I continued my journey to Malim to deliver drinks to a Shell gas station.
"However, when I stopped to use the restroom at the Simpang Ampat Toll Plaza, I was puzzled to see something that looked like a black plastic bag stuck to the back of the truck in the dim light.
"When I tried to grab it to throw it away, I was shocked to find it was a python. If it were in a village area, I might have grabbed a stick to drive it away, but this was at a toll plaza," he said.
Meanwhile, Alor Gajah District Civil Defence Office operations, disaster, and logistics officer Lieutenant (PA) Abdul Hadi Baharom, said four members were sent to the location after receiving a call at 5:30am. They successfully captured the nearly two-metre-long python weighing about one kilogramme.