12-ft Python Loose at Houston Apartment Complex
Residents of a Houston apartment complex got a surprise warning Wednesday - that a 12-foot python was loose in the area.
A notice was left on residents' doormats at the Esplanade Apartment complex, warning them that a python had been seen in the parking garage.
"We have been thoroughly investigating the report that there is a large snake at the Esplanade and at this time, have not been able to confirm it. We take these types of reports seriously and are taking precautionary measures as the comfort of our residents is our number one priority," Katie Fleischer, a spokeswoman for the Riverstone Residentital Group, which manages the Esplanade, said in a statement to ABCNews.com
Management is unsure of where the snake came from.
"We have not confirmed that there is a snake and no resident has claimed they've lost a pet snake to our management team. Management did not place letters on the doors of some of our residents and our residents are aware that this did not come from us," Fleischer said in an email to ABCNews.com.
The warning asks residents to call the Esplanade office and animal control if they see the python. Houston police told ABCNews.com they have not received any calls regarding the snake.
"I talked to the maintenance guy this morning and they do believe that the snake escaped from someone's apartment who lives on the second floor; that's why they said somebody saw it in the second-floor garage area, but they don't know where in the building it is," resident Wendy Hiester told ABC affiliate KTRK Thursday.
The python's wanderings are making residents uneasy.
"Definitely freaks me out a little bit. It makes me a little hesitant to go outside," resident Kimberly Stein told KTRK. "It's really precarious how it got outside to begin with."
Although pythons are not venomous, they are constrictors and therefore can be a threat, according to Houston Wildlife Control, who also has not received calls regarding the loose python.
"If it is that large then definitely pets are in danger and perhaps small children," a spokeswoman for Houston Wildlife Control told ABCNews.com.
The large size of the snake has residents concerned about what it's capable of.
"I'm worried can it get into the apartment somehow, so I think we'll be talking about it when we go to sleep tonight," resident Wendy Hiester told KTRK Thursday.
