WINNIPEG SUN (Manitoba) 30 October 04 Fifteen feet of mystery - Huge python discovered just outside Thompson (David Schmeichel)
Definitely not your average roadkill. A 15-foot python -- first thought to be a boa constrictor -- has set tongues wagging in Thompson, after turning up dead outside the city limits earlier this week.
Weighing in at 54 kg, the reptile was first spotted last Monday evening on the side of Highway 6 at the southern-most end of town, said Kurt Stocki, superintendent of public works in Thompson.
Whoever saw the snake called Thompson's animal control officer, who quickly determined the specimen was dead.
"It looked like it had just been dropped off there," said Stocki. "But what the cause of death was, we don't know."
Thompson's animal control officers first believed the snake was a boa constrictor, a species typically found in Central and South America. It's their theory the animal was probably an exotic pet owned by someone who didn't properly dispose of it once it had died.
Stocki says there is a permit process in place for people who want to keep such creatures as pets but notes no one in Thompson is on file as owning a snake that large.
A day after the snake was discovered, pictures were taken to prove how long it was, Stocki said.
While those shots have since found their way to the Internet, the snake's mysterious appearance is still something the city takes very seriously, he added.
The city planned to simply dispose of the snake but was later convinced to donate it to a local museum, where it will be mounted and displayed.
Local reptile expert Vern Ruml said the snake is definitely not a boa constrictor, since that species grows to only eight to 10 feet long.
"From the description of the pictures -- the size and the colour -- it's most likely a Burmese python," said Ruml, of Ruml's Reptiles.
"But the size and description could also fit an African rock python."
Ruml said it's possible the snake escaped or was set loose by its owner, in which case it wouldn't have survived long in Thompson's chilly temperatures.
Were it warmer, the snake still wouldn't have posed much threat to the population, he said.
"They don't seek out humans (as prey)," he said. "The danger to the general public would be pretty low."
Anyone with information related to the reptile is asked to call Thompson's animal control branch at (204) 677-7971.
Huge python discovered just outside Thompson