Leslie Daley spotted an 8-foot Burmese python while watering flowers last Friday around 4 p.m. when she saw something yellow moving very slowly across the front of her shed, with his tail 8 feet behind him.
The snake was discovered in the backyard of Leslie and Edward Daley in Freehold, New Jersey.
The reptile, identified as an approximately 8-foot-long Burmese python, had taken shelter beneath the floor of a shed.
The 40-pound snake was extricated after several hours of work by animal control officers with the Monmouth County SPCA.
The rescue effort required assistance from a local contractor, who helped remove floorboards of a shed so responders could safely access the animal.
Ed Daley said “It was caught under the floor joists. It was just too fat.”
Daley added “I couldn’t believe how big it was. The first thing was, it has to be somebody’s pet. Whose pet? We don’t know, no one has stepped forward and said ‘I lost my pet.'”
Scott Crawford, an Animal Control Manager with the Monmouth County SPCA, said “When the homeowner sent us a video of what we were actually dealing with, and when we all saw it, our jaws kind of dropped a little because that is a Burmese python, which definitely does not belong out in the wild in New Jersey.”
Crawford explained “So we had to dig around him a little bit to free him up. Still couldn’t tell exactly where his head was.”
Crawford recalled “At that point, you now, I was safe to grab the head, pick him up, and get him into a transport carrier.”
Veterinary staff at the Monmouth County SPCA performed X-rays and determined it had recently eaten a large opossum.
Dr. Samantha Mammen, medical director at the Monmouth County SPCA, said the python is a juvenile and believes it was released by someone last week, noting “It was really, generally speaking, in a good body condition, not dehydrated. Color was appropriate. It wasn’t too cold to the touch.”
Crawford believes the unknown owner of the snake released the animal after it had grown too large to care for.
Crawford said “There is a population that owns these things in the area, and whether it’s because they don’t have the proper permit or they feel it’s gotten too big for them to take care of, like in this situation, we suspect they dumped him out.”
Fortunately for the family, the python did not eat someone’s pet, which Crawford said could’ve been a real possibility for a snake that size.
Dr. Mammen noted the Burmese python is not venomous and needs a climate that includes temperatures in the 80s, saying “It likely would’ve fared well throughout the summer months, but once the fall and winter came, it wouldn’t have survived.”
Burmese pythons are not native to New Jersey or the United States, but they are not technically illegal to own in the state as long as owners have a permit.
In the viral moment that emerged from the rescue,
video showed a large bulge in the middle of the snake’s body
, which
veterinary staff determined was a large opossum
the snake had recently consumed. The discovery of the meal explained why the massive predator became wedged beneath the shed floorboards and unable to escape through the entry hole.
The python’s latest feast was still standing in the way, and the team had to dig around it to free the snake up.
The SPCA partnered with reptile specialists at F&F to arrange placement with an experienced snake handler who has the proper permits and facilities to care for the animal.