BERLIN — A trio of packaged pythons has caused a scare at a German post office. Police in Darmstadt say the snakes were stuffed into a parcel that was handed in for mailing to eastern Germany. It contained two tiger pythons and an albino tiger python of more than 3 feet in length.

A post office worker noticed one of the reptiles on Thursday afternoon after it apparently bit through the package. Colleagues caught the snake and put it in an empty box. Police said Friday that officers then recovered two more snakes from the damaged parcel.

Police say they have put the package's sender under investigation for possible violation of animal protection laws. The animals have been taken to a reptile house.