Nine foot python on the loose in Cambridge has been found
A nine foot python that escaped from his owner’s house in Cambridge on Saturday has been found.
The snake, named Turin, was discovered up a tree last night (Thursday) by one of the owner’s neighbours just metres from home on Lovell Road and was recaptured by the owner.
The python, which police had said was a danger to small animals, had escaped in the early hours of Saturday morning through an open window.
Michael Barton, who was one of the people who found the snake, said: “I was convinced the snake was still in my garden or next door because the birds had been acting strangely in the trees. So I was outdoors when I heard a thump, all the pigeons in the trees took off and went mad and then the lady next door let out a scream. I knew exactly what it must be so I looked up and there it was in the tree next door. It was huge, definitely at least nine foot and its body was thicker than my thigh.
View all of Michael's pictures from the rescue.
“I think the thumping noise was it’s tail falling down from the branches and hitting the roof of the Wendy house.
“I dashed back to the house and grabbed my camera while my neighbour went to get the owner. When he came back with another neighbour I passed my ladder over to her garden so they could get it down from the tree.
“The owner seemed very happy to get the snake back but said he would take him to the vets because he had foam around his mouth and he wanted him to get checked up. He showed us the snake and my wife even touched its head.
“I’m relieved it has been found because I had a feeling it was near our house. I wasn’t scared of it but I was wary. A lot of people on the street have been very worried and have been keeping their children and pets inside.”
Police were alerted to Turin’s escape by a neighbour returning from work who spotted it slithering past the Bartons' doorstep.
They checked front gardens and under cars and in a house with a cat flap in the immediate vicinity, but stopped looking for the escaped reptile on Monday, as they said it was not a threat to humans.
The reticulated python is not venomous but kills its prey by wrapping around them and suffocating them.
Turin's owner had sent neighbours a leaflet asking them not to harm the snake if the found it but to try to capture it in 'a plastic box'.
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