DAILY NEWS (New York, New York) 02 January 09 Seven-foot python in Queens apartment becomes a pain in the asp (Jonathan Lemire and Kerry Burke)
A man staying in a friend's Queens apartment called cops after he lost control of a seven-foot python, similar to the one pictured above.
The panicked owner of a 7-foot python called cops Thursday when he could no longer charm the snake he kept in his pal's Queens apartment, police said.
David Fennell, 28, was staying at the 149th St. pad of a friend when he called cops just after 5:30 p.m. Fennell, who was in the Jamaica apartment while his friend serves in the Army overseas, was apparently worried the snake might escape the fifth-floor apartment.
Police captured the python before it could and turned it over to Animal Care and Control just after 6 p.m.
Fennell was charged with unlawful possession of a wild animal, a misdemeanor. Under city law it is illegal to keep anything other than a domestic dog, cat or pocket pet such as a small bird or hamster, authorities said.
Neighbors had no idea the exotic reptile was in their midst.
"He wouldn't let maintenance workers into his apartment," said super Ramdat Roshandat, 40. "Our policy is strictly no pets."
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2009/01/01/2009-01-01_sevenfoot_python_in_queens_apartment_bec.html

YORK DAILY RECORD (Pennsylvania) 03 January 09 Python found in N.Y. headed to York County (Angie Mason)
A 7-foot python that slithered from its tank in New York City will find a home, temporarily, in York County.
David Fennell, 28, of Queens, N.Y., called police after the silver, black and yellow reticulated python escaped. Police found the snake in a bedroom and charged Fennell -- who said the snake really belonged to a friend who was home on leave from Iraq -- with unlawful possession of a wild animal.
Reticulated pythons, which are not poisonous but have been known to kill humans, are illegal in New York, said Randon Feinsod, a veterinarian with Ani-Care Animal Hospital in York Township. But they're legal in Pennsylvania.
Feinsod also serves as medical director for the Sean Casey Animal Rescue in Brooklyn, N.Y.
"If they need to find homes for these things that don't belong in New York, we find them homes in Pennsylvania," he said.
An Ani-Care staff member was expected to pick up the python this weekend and bring it to the clinic Monday, Feinsod said.
There, the snake will be checked out to make sure it's healthy. Then it will move in with Feinsod until he can take it to a "reptile swap meet."
Breeders gather at swap meets to sell their livestock, and private zoos often look there for animals, Feinsod said.
"We've had plenty of snakes before," he said. Sometimes the snakes are pets that people are giving up for adoption, and other times they're confiscated pets, such as the python.
His office has found homes for chickens, potbellied pigs, guinea fowl, golden pheasants and, occasionally, alligators.
"For us, this is relatively routine," Feinsod said. "Reptiles have been our passion. . . . Sometimes you'll get called in for something really uncommon. That's when we get excited."
http://ydr.inyork.com/ci_11362866

DAILY NEWS (New York, New York) 03 January 09 Fer goodness snakes, get it outta here! (Clare Trapasso)
The young python that slithered amok in a Queens apartment could one day reach 18 feet long, but it will likely do the rest of its growing in a zoo.
The 7-foot serpent was headed Friday for a rural Pennsylvania facility that specializes in exotic animals. From there, it will probably be placed in a zoo - which it might find more to its liking than the Jamaica flat where an Army soldier and his pal were keeping it.
"The snake came in very stressed and uncomfortable which caused him to be fairly aggressive," said Sean Casey, a Brooklyn animal expert who was tending to the snake yesterday. "He attempted to bite, but calmed down after proper handling."
Cops arrested David Fennell, 28, Thursday and charged him with unlawful possession of a wild animal. Fennell called cops after the silver, black and yellow reticulated python escaped from its tank.
Yesterday, Fennell said he was only covering for a pal named Raymel who is home on leave from Iraq.
"I took the charge because it was the noble thing to do," said Fennell, who is terrified of snakes. "He's in the military."
It is illegal to own a python in the city, said Mike Pastore, of Animal Care and Control.
Although the snake isn't poisonous, it's still dangerous. It could grow to 18 feet, he said.
"Pythons are a dime a dozen," Pastore said. "If someone wants one, they can get one."
Fennell and Raymel, 27, who did not give his last name, called cops after they returned to their 149th St. apartment and discovered the snake was missing from its tank.
"I was scared to death," said Raymel. "He was big."
Cops nabbed it in a bedroom and turned it over to Casey.
The next stop on the python's itinerary is the Ani-Care Animal Hospital in Dallastown, Pa. Then it will most likely go to a zoo, said Casey.
"I was relieved when the snake was captured and removed," Fennell said. "I knew that I could sleep at night."
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/queens/2009/01/02/2009-01-02_fer_goodness_snakes_get_it_outta_here.html