A 4-foot-long bull snake sought refuge, and possibly warmth, in the engine block of a car that was serviced last month at the Durango Walmart.
Mechanics discovered the reptile while performing an oil change.
They tried to remove the snake with a mechanical trash grabber, but that only upset the snake. The store called La Plata County Animal Control and the Colorado Division of Wildlife, but neither agency deals with snakes.
Larry Vaughn, an engineer with Durango Fire & Rescue Authority, happened to be at the Walmart and offered his services. He put on a pair of gloves and slowly freed the snake from the car.
“After capture and removal, I took him for a walk down to the river behind Walmart and released him to scare someone in the future,” Vaughn wrote in an e-mail that was forwarded to the Herald.