Two local airports made it onto the Transportation Security Administration's list of the top 10 most unusual items found at checkpoints last year.
The first special find came at Newark International Airport on Aug. 19. It was someone's pet -- a 15-inch ring-necked snake, a thin black reptile with a bright yellow band around the back of its neck. A kid found it on the floor of the Terminal C checkpoint who told his mom -- and she told a TSA officer.
The officer stuck a gray checkpoint bin -- yes, the ones those of us who travel are all too familiar with -- over the critter to keep it from slithering away. The checkpoint had to be closed temporarily, while Port Authority Police came to retrieve the snake, but it reopened a short time later.
A few weeks later, it was LaGuardia Airport's turn. On Sept. 14, a traveler tried to go through screening with a pair of martial arts sais, which, if you don't know, are metal piercing weapons with a central blade with two curved prongs come out of the handle. They kind of look like Wolverine's hands.
Sais are martial arts weapons and, of course, no weapons are allowed through a checkpoint. That's a no-no.
LISA FARBSTEIN, TSA SPOKESPERSON
For a reminder on what you can and can't bring on a plane, visit tsa.gov. And to see the rest of the items that made its top 10 weird list, check out the agency's video below.
