Rental car comes loaded -- with a snake

As I look forward to yet another summer on the road, I must admit to a bit of trepidation when I read the story of the Kentucky man who found a live, 2-foot-long ball python in his rental car.

Dan McBride, an assistant athletic director at Eastern Kentucky University, found the snake lying on the dashboard of his car and -- here's the really unbelievable part -- thought it was a rubber reptile left there as a joke. He even went so far as to pat the thing as he started to drive off. He got a shock when the snake lifted its head, according to the Associated Press report.

I'll bet. I've never noticed a drop-down for "with luxury snake" in the Priceline car-rental form, but you can bet I'll be keeping my eyes open in the future.