REGISTER STAR (Rockford, Illinois) 12 June 08 4-foot python found in Starbucks parking lot (Isaac Guerrero)

Rockford: Snakes alive! That’s what Doreen Hanzel thought when a woman walked into Petco on East State Street this morning holding a cup of coffee in one hand and a 4-foot albino Burmese python in the other.

“From what the lady described, she had gone into the Starbucks across the parking lot to get a coffee and when she came out, this snake was sunning itself on the pavement next to her car,” said Hanzel, the operations manager at Petco.

“It didn’t strike her or anything, so we figured it was somebody’s pet and it was just abandoned in the parking lot.”

The java drinker — Hanzel never got her name, nor did a Winnebago County Animal Services officer who showed up a bit later — picked up the bright yellow reptile and carried it across the Forest Plaza parking lot to Petco.

It’s quite common for owners of exotic animals to abandon pets in public places, said Animal Services Director Gary Longanecker.

“Often times, people lose the interest in the pet, or the animal grows too large and they can no longer house them or feed them, so they take it to an alley or a parking lot and just dump it,” Longanecker said.

“Normally, we’d take the animal back to our shelter,” he said. “In this case, Petco has better facilities to house the snake and care for it. They’re better equipped to keep it and find a zoo or a foster home for it.”

Full-grown Burmese pythons can easily reach 18 feet in length and weigh 200 pounds or more. They routinely live 25 years or more in captivity. People often mishandle these potentially huge constrictors and attacks on handlers — sometimes deadly — are not uncommon.

Young Burmese pythons can temporarily live in a 20-gallon or larger aquarium until larger housing is built. Given its size, the python dropped off at Petco is probably no more than eight months old, Hanzel said.

“This snake is pretty docile, but Burmese pythons are more aggressive as far as pythons go,” Hanzel said. “They can inflict some nasty bites resulting in stitches. They’re usually the ones you hear about when you hear about snakes attacking children.”

Burmese pythons typically eat “anything they want — from rodents to birds,” Hanzel said. “We initially thought something was wrong this snake’s mouth.”

Upon closer inspection, Hanzel realized the reptile may have had a snack before it was spotted.

“It may have eaten some geese eggs,” she said. “It had dried blood or feathers around its mouth.”

The identity of the java drinker who brought the snake to Petco is still a mystery. Hanzel said the woman should be thanked.

“She’s a good Samaritan,” Hanzel said. “It’s not every day you meet someone trying to save a snake like this.”
4-foot python found in Starbucks parking lot

[ Show Entire Thread ]