Odds & Ends

Slithering surprise

OMRO, WIS. (AP) » AWisconsin motorist was having car trouble when he pulled over to find a slithering surprise.

Chris Nguyen opened the hood of his mother’s SUV. Inside, he found a 4-footlong ball python.

Police in Omro responded. They tried to wriggle the snake free and called Menasha snake rescuer Steve Keller for help.

WLUK-TV reports it took hours to free the snake, which had wrapped itself around the engine.

The snake’s owner said it had been missing for more than a month. It’s illegal to have such a snake in Omro, so the owner was fined $313.

Police say they’ll dismiss the ticket if the owner pays for the SUV’s damages, which fittingly include a displaced serpentine belt.

Keller says he’ll adopt the python.

Cliff house

BERLIN (AP) » One of Switzerland’s most picturesque restaurants will soon be looking for a new operator.

The Gasthaus Aescher, built into a cliff above a valley in northeastern Switzerland, has been run by the same family since 1987. It gained recognition outside the Alpine nation when it was featured on the cover of a National Geographic book of “destinations of a lifetime” in 2016.

Authorities in Appenzell Innerrhoden canton (state) said Monday that the current tenants, Nicole and Bernhard Knechtle-Fritsche, are giving up the lease at the end of the 2018 season.

The restaurant opens from May until the beginning of November.

Bear visits hotel

ESTES PARK, COLO. (AP) » A black bear wandered the lobby of the Colorado hotel that inspired Stephen King to write “The Shining.”

Stanley Hotel Vice President Reed Rowley tells KDVR-TV that 300 guests were sound asleep as the bruin figured out how to open the door and climbed over furniture. A front desk supervisor captured video of the romp.

There was no damage, but the furniture got rearranged before the bear walked out of the lower level door.

The hotel in Estes Park opened in 1909. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

King wrote “The Shining” after he and his wife stayed at The Stanley in 1974. The 1980 horror film was not shot there.