LAGOS, Nigeria -- Recently, a woman nearly had a heart attack after her son got her a potted plant for her birthday.

She kept it on a kitchen counter until the weather warmed enough to plant it outside. The plant filled a plastic pot wedged into a decorative outer container.

After planting the flowered plant, the woman used a knife to remove the plastic pot from the ceramic one. As she wedged the blade around the sides, something moved.

Yikes! It looked like a snake, she told her son.

To everyone’s surprise, the outer pot held not one snake, but two baby copperheads.

The inner plastic pot had a piece of cardboard up its side. Probably snake eggs somehow lodged inside holes in the cardboard had hatched in the heat.

This could have been really bad. The plant had come from a grocery store. I won’t mention its name to avoid ruining the business. In fact, I believe the responsibility lies with the grower, not the store. Growers should take more care when potting plants.

As a precaution, don’t bring nursery plants inside. Who knows what may lurk deep under the roots?

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