This isn’t the first time a snake’s tried to sneak into Dubai either…

Yesterday, an actual snake on a plane led to the cancellation of an Emirates flight from Muscat to Dubai.

The good news is that the snake wasn’t in the cabin, but was actually in the cargo hold (and the other very good news is that it was spied by a canny staffer and removed from the plane before it touched down in DXB).

“Emirates can confirm that flight EK0863 from Muscat to Dubai on 8 January 2017 was cancelled due to a detection of a snake in the cargo hold prior to passengers boarding,” an Emirates spokesperson said.

Engineering and cleaning teams then immediately cleared the aircraft so that it was fine for service again.

There are 22 species of snakes living in Muscat – from the harmless and small blind snakes to the two-metre-long cobra found in the Dhofar Mountains.

And the UAE? There are dozens of varities of snakes in the Emirates, but only four are medically venomous and of any concern – two of these species will only ever be spotted in the mountains. Here’s a handy guide to the reptiles you’ll find in the UAE.

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This isn’t the first time a snake’s been found on a plane headed for Dubai – last September the deadly African puff adder (also known as the bitis arietans) was found in an air cargo shipment in the emirate according to Dubai Municipality’s pest control department. It would not say where the flight had landed from. The above picture of the snake was provided by the Municipality.

This was the first official sighting of the deadly breed in the UAE, although they can be found in the Dhofar region of Oman, southwestern Saudi Arabia and in parts of Yemen. The snake is responsible for the most snakebites and fatalities in Africa, partly due to the fact it doesn’t retreat like most snakes do.

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