MUSKEGON CHRONICLE (Michigan) 18 August 08 Trooper shoots aggressive python in Ottawa County (Terry Judd)

Photo at URL below: Trooper William Coon holds a Burmese Python that he was forced to kill Monday after it attacked a pickup truck on 156th Avenue in Ottawa County. (Michigan State Police)

Brian Ahlin thought he saw a large stick in the middle of 156th Avenue in Ottawa County Monday morning until it reared up and started attacking the side of his pickup.

"I was driving to my home on Polk Street and saw this SUV on the side of the road and I what I thought was a stick in the road," he said. "But as I got closer I said, 'That ain't no stick.' And then as I got closer I realized, 'Shoot, that's snake.' Then I got even closer and I thought 'That's a python!' Then, it started attacking the truck."

Ahlin said he was glad to be surrounded by his 5,000-pound 2004 Chevrolet Silverado pickup as the python repeated lunged into the driver's side with its jaws wide open. Ahlin said he was concerned his 50-pound dog would jump out the window and suddenly "become a snack for that snake."

"I'll tell you, this snake was big enough it could have swallowed a kid," he said. "I mean the girth on that thing was huge."

Ahlin concluded he needed to do something and his Silverado, built like a rock, was up for the job. He put the truck in gear and repeatedly ran over the snake.

"I must have run over him 10 times and it didn't do anything," he said. "It was like running over a piece of rubber. He kept bouncing back with his jaws wide open. Let's just say, I wasn't going to stick my head out."

Tom Moore of West Olive, the driver of the SUV on the side of the road, witnessed the snake attack and called 9-1-1. State Police Trooper William Coon of the Grand Haven Post was dispatch. When Coon arrived, he found a 7-foot-long python lunging at anything that moved, including himself.

"It's jaws were really wide open and he came after me," Coon said. "Even after being run over, it was still lunging."

Coon said he had no choice but to kill the snake. It took three bullets, including one to the head.

"In the eight years I have been a trooper, I've never responded to an animal complaint like this one," he said.

Coon said a Holland pet shop identified the snake as Burmese Python, which is found in Southeast Asia but are bred in the United States as pets. These snakes are capable of growing to more than 20 feet in length and up to 200 pounds.

According to several Internet sites, there is a national problem with owners "dumping" their snakes once they grow to seven-15 feet. At that length, the snakes require eating rabbits several times a month, can produce as much waste as a horse and are extremely difficult to handle.

Coon speculates the python killed in West Olive was a pet that either escaped from its cage or was deliberately released by its owner tired of caring for such a large creature.

However the snake ended up in West Olive, Ahlin believes it was a real danger to children and dogs.

"Something dangerous like that with kids around? Well, we just could not have something like that. I just did not want that thing getting out in the woods."


Trooper shoots aggressive python in Ottawa County

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