Huge snake sends tourists running when it bolts from SUV at Yellowstone National Park

A very big snake caused a ruckus at Yellowstone National Park on Thursday when it popped out of an SUV engine in front of a crowd of stunned tourists.

The incident happened outside one of the park’s welcome centers, and video of the scene includes gasps as the snake began unwinding itself across the entire width of a Toyota Highlander.

It appeared to be well over 6 feet in length, onlookers reported, and was brazen enough to take a striking pose before dashing from one side of the SUV to the other.

A Yellowstone park ranger armed with snake tongs quickly knocked it to the ground. However, the snake ignited screams when it then headed straight at onlookers who were unknowingly blocking its path to a thicket of growth.

No one was hurt and the snake escaped unharmed.

SUV owner Alisha Archuleta Peterson of Utah told McClatchy News the ordeal left her rattled. She was going on faith when someone told her the snake was a non-venomous blow snake, better known a gopher snake or bull snake.

Peterson — who was traveling with her husband, son and both of her parents — says it happened when the family stopped to use the restroom, a stop they expected to be brief. The snake showed up on the last day of their six-day trip, she says.

“I came out of the bathroom to the hood of my car open and a crowd gathered around,” she posted on Facebook. “I thought great, there’s something wrong with the car. But I was wrong. People (were) telling me that a snake had crawled into my car’s engine. ... I was not getting in the car until he came out.”

Her husband and father tried unsuccessfully to pull the snake out. Then a snake enthusiast offered to try, then two park rangers, she said. Peterson posted multiple videos of their efforts, which included reaching into the engine and even crawling under the SUV.

Someone poking at the snake from the underneath the vehicle is what prompted the snake to make its exit, she says. It was in a hurry, too.

Peterson says the entire affair lasted more than an hour.

She shared some of her videos on the National Park Service Facebook Fan Page on Sunday, where commenters referred to the snake as everything from “mesmerizing” to “gorgeous.”

“I’d end up crashing my car if I see a snake on my windshield,” one person commented.

Yellowstone reports bull snakes are its largest reptile, growing up to 72 inches long. The species is “often mistaken for a rattlesnake because of its appearance and its defensive behavior: when disturbed, it will coil up, hiss loudly, and vibrate its tail against the ground, producing a rattling sound,” the park reports.