HOUSTON, TX (WCMH) — Amber Cranfill couldn’t believe what she saw when she was driving down the highway in Houston.

“I thought it was a guy’s arm with tattoos at first,” she said.

But after taking a closer look, Cranfill realized it was the tail of what appears to be a python.

“It was 6 to 8 feet long,” she told KTRK.

Cranfill said the man driving the car would occasionally have to pull the snake back inside the vehicle.

I pulled away from the car, because at one point I thought the snake might fall out. I don’t like snakes, but I didn’t want to hit someone’s pet,” Cranfill said.

Texas Department of Transportation officials warned people that pets, including pet snakes, can be a distraction while driving and they should be properly contained.