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HALIFAX HERALD (Nova Scotia) 09 August 03 Metro python no joke to cat owner and pets - Reptile slithers into backyard (Patricia Brooks)
Jennifer Surrette was washing her dishes Thursday night when her two terrified cats scampered in through her open window.
"They just flew in the house and were freaking out and spazzing out and jumping at the slightest noise," the Halifax woman said.
Thinking kids outside her Yukon Street flat were throwing things at the cats, Ernie and Peanut, Ms. Surrette went outside to confront them.
"I took a flashlight out and found this four-foot-long (snake) just underneath my window, sort of climbing up the side of my house," she said of the reptile that turned out to be a python.
"I'm not afraid of snakes but this is scary.
"It sort of slithered away and went on its business," the animal-rights activist said later. "It wasn't really interested in us but it stayed around the house."
At about 10:45 p.m., she called 911, then the Natural Resources Department and then animal control came at about midnight.
"She (the animal control officer) was expecting a garter snake and she was very taken aback when she realized what it really was," Ms. Surrette said.
The officer gabbed the python's head and Ms. Surrette helped her uncoil the snake from a metal cot in the backyard and put it in a bag. The snake was taken to a reptile rescue centre in Dartmouth.
Ms. Surrette was told by neighbours that it was the second time in a week an exotic snake was found slithering about in the neighbourhood.
The SPCA in Burnside has the animal-control contract for Halifax Regional Municipality, but spokeswoman Judith Gass said only city officials were able to comment on animal-control issues.
According to the municipality's Web site, the bylaw for the former city of Halifax says anyone owning a snake or reptile found at large can face a fine of up to $500 or 10 days in jail.
But Ms. Surrette is skeptical the owner of this snake will ever be found.
She e-mailed the municipality and her councillor pictures of the snake taken in her backyard, hoping the city will take her concerns seriously and consider a ban on owning such snakes.
"He could've easily killed my cats," Ms. Surrette said, adding later: "I don't have a problem rescuing cats. I have a big problem rescuing large, dangerous reptiles."

Metro python no joke to cat owner and pets

CHRONICLE-HERALD (Halifax, Nova Scotia) 14 August 03 Voice of the People: Respect all animals & Wonderful creatures
Respect all animals
As the former owner of a ball python, the same species of snake that was recently found outside Jennifer Surrette's home (Aug. 9 story), I feel compelled to write. Ms. Surrette's claim that the snake was a large, dangerous reptile that could have easily killed her cats is reactionary and ill-informed. Ball pythons are beautiful, docile animals. They eat small mammals, lizards and amphibians. As reptiles go, four feet (full-grown for this species) is quite small, and not large enough to subdue an animal the size of a cat. One scratch from a cat could inflict far more potential damage on the snake than anything the snake could do to the cat.
Considering she is a member of the Animal Rights Collective of Halifax (ARCH), I am disappointed by Ms. Surrette's response to the situation. According to their Web site (www.archalifax.com), ARCH is dedicated to promoting respect and compassion for all animals.
It is unfortunate that the snake escaped its home, but the incident is the fault of its owner, not the snake. However one may feel about them personally, such snakes are completely harmless, and Ms. Surrette's petition to the city to ban small reptiles as pets has no more basis than would a petition to ban parrots or potbellied pigs. Her efforts would be more appropriately directed towards advocating secure enclosures for all pets, like the one she has built for her cats.
Jennifer Van Dommelen, Halifax
Wonderful creatures
I was very disappointed in your article "Metro python no joke to cat owner and pets; Reptile slithers into backyard" (Aug. 9).
I can easily recognize that snake as a ball python. Ball pythons are not dangerous. They are generally very docile snakes and do not kill cats. The largest meal they eat is a large rat. Ball pythons are not venomous.
The is the one who deserves sympathy, as it was probably dumped out into the wild by an uncaring owner and left to die by itself. Ball pythons are native to Africa and cannot survive free in most North American habitats.
It would have been prudent of the newspaper to do a bit of research to determine how dangerous the actually was. Instead, you ran something that could easily turn ignorant people against these wonderful creatures. I urge you to show less bias against snakes.
Laura Tanner, Wheat Ridge, Colo.
Voice of the People: Respect all animals & Wonderful creatures