July 27 (UPI) -- A California man enlisted the help of a body shop to partially disassemble his truck and free his pet snake.

Cary Kievman of Moorepark said his 4-foot boa constrictor, Coco, was accompanying him on a drive recently when the snake slithered into the back paneling of his truck and refused to come out.


Kievman turned to Boulevard Paint and Body in Mission Hills for help, and service technician Gilbert Garcia spent hours carefully disassembling the back of the truck to reach Coco.

"It just takes time," Garcia told KABC-TV. "It takes a little bit of time and care in this case because I didn't want to really hurt the snake."

Coco was found wrapped around a wiring harness and returned to Kievman's grateful hands.

The pet owner said the auto shop refused to accept any payment for the good deed.

"They were great. They didn't take my money," Kievman said. "They spent hours working on my car. And that doesn't happen."

Coco's rescue went far easier than a similar -- but scarier -- situation that took place in Louisiana earlier in the summer. Lynette Bilello enlisted the help of a mechanic to remove a venomous snake she spotted in her car and was unable to remove for several days.

Bilello said animal control officers were unable to locate the snake inside the car, so the mechanic removed all of the seats from the car to uncover the snake's hiding place.