Kishor Kumar Jena, a resident of Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India, smelt something bad in his car while returning home from a tennis match.

He stopped his car on the roadside and found that the stink was coming from a spare tyre he had kept in the dicky at the back.

When he lifted the tyre, he was shocked to find a long yellow snake resting underneath.

Terrified, he called Snake Helpline, whose volunteers rushed to the spot and rescued the snake.

Subhendu Mallick identified the snake as a non-venomous rat and said the the car owner did the right thing by stopping the car.

“If the snake had been found when he was driving he could crashed his car in panic,” said Subhendu.

“Snakes emit distinct odour to keep away the predators or attract mates. The rat snake and common krait may stink, but the Indian spectacled cobra or pit viper may actually smell pleasant,” informed Subhendu.