Usually, when you pick up a piece of furniture off the curb, you're worried about mold or bedbugs, maybe even loose screws. Never snakes.

Grand Rapids resident Holly Wright and her boyfriend brought home a couch they found on the street, hoping to make it a permanent fixture of their abode. And for two months all was peaceful. "We smelled it and everything—it looked OK," Wright told WZZM. "We peeled off the cushions, cleaned it up, never saw anything."

Then one day a boa constrictor emerged from beneath the cushions.

Fortunately, it was clear the snake was starved and represented no threat. "It was very lethargic," said Wright. "It didn't really react or hiss."

Wright said that they initially intended to nurse the snake back to health and care for it indefinitely, but it died soon after it revealed itself. "It was quite cold in the room, there was no food for the snake and I think it came out of the couch because it was dying," Wright explained. The snake's true origins are still unknown.

And that's why you should always check your furniture for snakes.