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MA Press: "Anaconda(??)" found loose

Aug 17, 2010 09:32 AM

One of yours I believe? ... {Photo of man-eating "Anaconda" at URL below}

WGGB (Springfield, Massachusetts) 12 August 10 Anaconda found loose in Springfield (Jim Cline)
Springfield, Mass: It was an unusual call that came into the Springfield police department Thursday morning.
A woman said there was a snake loose in her apartment on East Park. Not just any snake, mind you, but an anaconda, the largest breed of snake in the world. Anaconda's are found in the Amazon river basin. But in Springfield?
Fortunately this snake was not the largest. It was about 6 feet long. The woman who made the call says she was watching it for someone else in the building. "I was snake-sitting for a day which turned into more than a day," she said. "Just trying to be a nice neighbor."
The snake crawled out of the top of the aquarium, through a hole that was there to let air in. It wasn't a big deal. The Plexiglas on top wasn't strong enough to stop it. And the woman has had snakes before so she says she was going to put it back in the aquarium but, "I touched it to see if I could just put him back in there and no, he hissed. So I said, Oh no, this is not going well."
That's when she called the police.
Tom Supinski, a licensed exterminator, was called in to remove the snake which was now hiding behind the door. He says it did not appear the snake had been fed in awhile, so it was probably hungry. He also says anacondas belong in their natural setting.
Anaconda found loose in Springfield

Replies (6)

varanid Aug 17, 2010 10:42 AM

HAHAHAHA ROFL that's funny. Bullsnake, anaconda what's the difference.
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We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

FL_Herps Aug 17, 2010 11:51 AM

Holy cow! TOO FUNNY!! I could not stop laughing when the trapper said it could get over 15 ft! lol

As the rest of this forum will confirm, it in no way even remotely resembles an anaconda...it's not even a frickin boa for that matter. Kind of scary and pathetic though how easily some complete moron can pose as an expert and totally misidentify a snake and strike unnecessary fear into the minds of the uneducated public. This kind of nonsense is what fuels support for snake regulations and laws.
What's even more pathetic about this story is that the picture in the beginning really is of a green anaconda and then they go to what is obviously a Gopher Snake (looks like a Sonoran Gopher to me) and the trapper is completely convinced it's an anaconda. Honestly, what parts even look remotely similar between the two??

And as a final comment...that gopher (I mean anaconda) doesn't look like a 6 footer either
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Take care,

Alex Pepper

CBB '07 1.1 Aspidites ramsayi--Woma Pythons (Don Hamper/Rare Earth Stock)
CBB '08 1.1 Bothrochilus boa--Bismarck Ringed Pythons (Tom Keogan Line High Contrast)
CBB '07 1.0 Heterodon simus--High Red Southern Hognose Snake (Tom Pinson Line Red)
CBB '07 1.1 Pituophis catenifer sayi--Marathon, Texas Out-crossed Stillwater Hypomelanistic Bull Snakes
CBB '08 1.1 Pituophis melanoleucus lodingi--Black Pine Snakes (John Ginter Stock)
CBB '06 & '08 1.1 Eublepharis macularius--Blazing Blizzard & Reverse Stripe Tangerine Albino Leopard Geckos "Blaze" & "Angie"
CBB '02 0.1 Hemitheconyx caudicinctus--Stiped African Fat-tailed Gecko "Smeagol"
CBB '03 0.1 Canis domesticus--Cocker Spaniel "Cupcake"
CBB '99 0.1 Canis domesticus--Yellow Labrador Retriever "Freckles"

Happy Herping!

PaulJH Aug 17, 2010 03:28 PM

I just had to send an email (below) to the guy who covered the story - we'll see what if anything happens.

-Paul

SUBJECT: Anaconda story needs correction/retraction
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... because it's an adult Bull Snake (Pituophis catenifer sayi), not a Green Anaconda

http://www.wggb.com/Global/story.asp?S=12971275
http://www.cbs3springfield.com/news/local/Anaconda-gets-loose-in-a-Springfield-Apartment--100562379.html

For comparison:

http://www.google.com/images?q=bull+snake
http://www.google.com/images?&q=green+anaconda

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullsnake
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Anaconda

A follow up and correction story would be great - hopefully the snake made it back to it's owner.

Best,
Paul

PaulJH Aug 17, 2010 06:47 PM

More "Bullsnakes" in the news (Source: http://www.denverpost.com/popular/ci_11927895)

varanid Aug 17, 2010 07:42 PM

can't they get the freaking GENUS right?! I mean I can understand confusing T. radix vs. T. elegans or something, but Thamnophis vs. Pitouphis? The guy pulling them out yeah, whatever, but don't papers have fact checkers?
-----
We wouldn't have 6 and a half billion people if you had to be beautiful to get laid.
6.6 African House snakes
3.2 reticulated pythons
.1 corn snake
4.2 Florida Kings
1.2 speckled kings
1.2 ball pythons
0.0.1 Argentine boa

ShaunRoberson Aug 18, 2010 09:44 PM

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It costs an awful lot to feed one of those! BWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!

Somehow they had a picture of an actual anaconda in the newsroom - did they not notice that it doesn't look a DAMN THING like the snake in the story?!?!?!?
PS Pituophis

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