A group of post office workers fled in panic after a venomous snake slithered out of a package that contained two more vipers, according to police in Canada.
The B.C. Conservation Officer Service said that the incident unfolded last week, at a Canada Post in British Columbia.
The package came from China, and it was destined to be shipped to an address in Manitoba.
The Richmond mail distribution branch called police to report the discovery of a live snake that was slithering among packages.
Police officers who arrived at the scene, located the package from where the snake escaped and they found two additional vipers, but they were dead.
The surviving snake was successfully captured and is being handled by specialists. Police warned that vipers are very dangerous, and there is no antivenom available in the country.
It is illegal to possess vipers in British Columbia.