Strange smell leads Tennessee driver to massive python hidden under his hood

A Knoxville man thought his SUV had a routine mechanical problem. Instead, he found something that looks like it belongs in a nature documentary, not an engine bay.

In a WBIR Channel 10 report, Shea Smith says Jesse Hodge had been driving around for a couple of days when he noticed a strange smell coming from his vehicle. 

At first, it was just “something off,” but it lingered long enough that even his friends started noticing it.

Hodge’s first reaction was honestly relatable. When someone else says, “What’s that smell?” you don’t want to be the culprit. Smith reports that Hodge joked it wasn’t him, basically trying to rule out the most embarrassing possibility before blaming the car.

But the smell didn’t go away, and by that point it wasn’t funny anymore. It was the kind of persistent, weird odor that makes you start imagining expensive repairs, leaking fluids, or something rotting where it shouldn’t be.

A Normal Car Check Turns Into A Horror Movie Moment

Smith says Hodge scheduled a maintenance check at the dealership after a couple of days of dealing with the smell. He had every reason to think this would end with a mechanic pointing at a filter or a hose, maybe upselling him on something he didn’t need.

Then, the day before the appointment, Hodge did what a lot of people do when they’re trying to feel in control. He popped the hood “just for good measure,” Smith reports, to see if he could spot anything obvious.

That’s when the story flips.

“I raised the hood on the car, I could not believe what I was seeing,” Hodge told Smith in the WBIR report. And if you’ve ever opened a hood expecting nothing more dramatic than leaves or a loose cap, you already know how fast your brain would short-circuit.

Smith describes what he found as a “yellow slithery passenger” coiled inside the engine compartment. Not a small snake, not a harmless little garden visitor. A big exotic python, wedged into a place where no living thing should be.

Hodge explained it in a detail that makes the scene feel painfully real. “Lo and behold, once I pulled it up and propped the hood up and looked, and there he laid on top of the battery box,” he told Smith.

The battery box is a spot you can picture instantly. It’s a clean visual: a big yellow snake, draped over something you typically associate with dead metal and electrical terminals. 

It’s the wrong animal in the wrong place, and your eyes would probably refuse to accept it for a second.

“Dad, Don’t Do This” And The Family’s First Reaction

Smith says Hodge’s family was convinced he had to be messing with them. That’s the only sane response when someone texts you a photo that looks like it was staged.

In the WBIR report, Smith recounts how the family questioned whether this was a prank. And one family member’s reaction sums it up perfectly: “Dad. Don’t do this. Don’t send this stuff to me.”

That line hits because it’s not even about the snake. It’s about the emotional ambush. Nobody wants to be minding their own business and suddenly get a surprise python photo in the middle of their day.

And if you’re the person opening that hood, you’re not just shocked—you’re also instantly running a mental checklist. How long has it been there? Could it get into the cabin? Did it crawl in while the car was parked? Is it alive?

Smith’s report doesn’t treat it like a joke, even though the family initially did. It treats it like what it is: a weird, unsettling event that could have gone much worse if the timing had been different.

The Call To Young-Williams And The Relief Of One Detail

After the discovery, Smith says Hodge called Young-Williams Animal Center to remove the snake. That’s the correct move, even if you’re brave, even if you grew up around snakes, even if you want to be the hero.

Because this wasn’t a native Tennessee snake. It was exotic, and you don’t want to find out what it can do by experimenting with your hands.

Smith reports there was one detail that left people both “sadly or thankfully” relieved, depending on how you feel about reptiles: the snake was already dead when help arrived.

That detail changes the whole tone. A dead snake is still gross and disturbing, but it isn’t moving. It isn’t striking. It isn’t disappearing deeper into the engine bay while you’re staring at it.

Smith includes the kind of human reaction you’d expect from anyone seeing this. One person said when they saw the pictures they wondered if it was fake, then realized it was real. That’s the brain trying to protect itself.

And honestly, it’s hard to blame anyone for hoping it was staged. A python in a vehicle’s engine compartment feels like the kind of urban legend you hear from a friend-of-a-friend. Until it happens to you.

Where Did A Python In Knoxville Even Come From?

Smith brings in Hayley Oakley from Young-Williams Animal Center to explain why this snake was such a red flag. Oakley says the type of snake found under the hood is “definitely not a Tennessee native” and did not end up in the U.S. “on accident.”

Oakley’s explanation, as Smith reports it, is straightforward and kind of depressing. “That would have to be some sort of escaped pet or sadly a released pet if someone got tired of taking care of it,” Oakley said.

That’s the part that makes this story bigger than one strange day for one driver. It points to the reality that exotic pet ownership can be messy, irresponsible, and sometimes cruel.

Pythons aren’t starter pets. They get big. They require special care. They can live a long time. If someone buys one on impulse, the “wow” factor wears off, but the responsibility doesn’t.

And when a person dumps an animal like that, it doesn’t magically disappear. It ends up looking for shelter, warmth, food, or safety, and it can wind up in places nobody expects—like a car.

Smith doesn’t claim to know exactly how this particular snake got into Hodge’s SUV, but the clues line up with what Oakley is saying. Either it escaped someone’s home, or someone decided the easiest solution was to release it and let “nature” handle the rest.

That’s not nature. That’s neglect.

Why The Smell Happened And Why This Is A Real Reminder

Smith reports that Hodge was grateful the snake “at least only made it to the car.” His mind immediately jumped to something that probably made every pet owner cringe.

Hodge pointed out he has a doggy door leading outside, and then he started imagining how easily the snake could have slipped through it. “I’ve got a doggie door that goes outside and you know, I got to thinking… dang, that thing could have come through that doggy door and been right in the house with me,” he said in Smith’s report.

That’s the kind of thought that crawls into your head and won’t leave. Because once you realize an animal can get into your car, you realize it can get into other spaces too—garages, sheds, crawl spaces, even homes if there’s an opening.

Smith and Oakley both use the story as a warning. Oakley suggests that if your car isn’t parked in a garage, it’s smart to take a peek before starting the engine, because an “unexpected passenger” can hitch a ride.

That advice sounds almost silly until you imagine what could happen if the snake had been alive and deeper in the engine area. Or if it had gotten tangled in something, or popped out when the hood was opened, or ended up near hot parts after the engine started.

This isn’t just a “snake story.” It’s a reminder that vehicles sit outdoors like giant warm boxes, and animals – especially in colder months – will try to use them.

Even if this was an exotic python, the lesson applies to more common situations too. Cats climb into engine bays. Rodents chew wires. Snakes curl up near heat. Nature doesn’t care that your SUV costs money.

The Weirdest Part Might Be How Plausible It Is

The most unsettling thing about Smith’s report is how normal the beginning is. A weird smell. A few days of ignoring it. Friends noticing. A dealership appointment. A quick look under the hood.

That’s just life.

Then suddenly there’s a python on the battery box like it paid rent.

If you’re looking for the “how did we get here” explanation, it probably comes down to two things. One, exotic pets exist in places you wouldn’t expect, because people can and do buy them. Two, abandoned animals look for warmth and shelter, and cars provide both.

Smith’s report doesn’t need to exaggerate because the truth is already bizarre enough. The image of a huge yellow snake in a Knoxville SUV is the kind of story people repeat for years, because it breaks the normal rules of what you think is possible.

And there’s also a quiet moral hiding under the hood here. If Oakley is right that this was likely an escaped or released pet, then the real “strange smell” isn’t just coming from the vehicle. It’s coming from the way some people treat animals like disposable entertainment.

What Happened Next And What People Should Take From It

Smith reports that once Young-Williams Animal Center arrived, they put the snake’s body into a plastic bag and disposed of it. That ended the immediate problem, but it doesn’t erase the “what if” questions.

What if it had been alive? What if it had made it inside the house? What if a child found it? What if Hodge had reached in without seeing it?

This story is funny to some people and terrifying to others, and both reactions make sense. But the practical takeaway is simple: if something feels off with your vehicle – smell, sound, anything – check it.

Or, as Smith jokes in the report, maybe do check it… and maybe also do be afraid.

Because apparently, in 2025 Knoxville, your car can come with an optional python package you never asked for.