13-foot-long python survives five months eating cats in OKC trailer park
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – An expert hired to get rid of a snake seen slithering in a South Oklahoma City mobile home park found that the python was 13 feet long and had been in the neighborhood for around five months.
“We’re talking, that thing has been eating opossums, foot-long rats, and cats,” said Trevor Bounds of Red Beard Wildlife Control. “The mouth on that thing is the size of your foot and when it opens up you’re going to be able to fit something pretty large in there.”
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On Friday, KFOR reported on the snake seen in Burntwood Mobile Home Park and how staff there told residents to be on the lookout throughout the week. The alert sent also said that they would be taking care of it soon.
Experts say that more than likely the snake was a pet that either got loose or the owner let it out.
“The constricting is what can be the dangerous part,” said Bounds. “You can’t have small children or pets going near this thing that’s why this should’ve been tackled a whole lot sooner. Things could have gotten much worse.”
Red Beard Wildlife Control was hired and started to check out the snake last week. Bounds said that it had been around that area since June and had survived since then.
“We were using our thermal camera last week to find it but because it is cold-blooded we had to just look for an outline of him,” said Bounds.
Bounds said that the snake is an albino Reticulated Python which is one of the world’s largest species of snake. He said that it looked to have crawled and survived underneath one particular home.
“They can get up to 24 feet if you let them, maybe longer. The body on this snake is like Mike Tyson’s bicep but 13 feet long,” said Bounds.
The picture of the snake was sent by staff with a warning for residents to look out if they see it around the neighborhood. The warning was sent to KFOR from someone wanting to remain anonymous but wanted to understand how they were handling the problem.
The snake started causing problems, Bounds said when half of the cats in the neighborhood started going missing.
“That home is pretty long and so getting two people in there in like a foot-and-a-half crawlspace to fight a 13-foot snake is just impossible,” said Bounds. “When we looked underneath the floor at the home it created that’s when we started seeing a bunch of carcasses of large animals.”
Bryant Elementary School is next to the mobile home park and a large portion of the land doesn’t have a gate protecting the kids from the potential of a giant python.
“They have an animal that large and I can imagine that each one of those cats put up a nasty fight. So, when it’s been attacked that many times and to that extent, the nice non-aggressive pet snake we once knew is no more. This thing is dangerous now,” said Bounds.
Bounds said that he has created a trap around the home and has a 24-hour live feed watching it at all times.
“As soon as that thing makes a move the camera alerts my phone and then I’m able to get out there and take care of this thing,” said Bounds.
You might recall, that Bounds and his crew tackled a skunk that snuck into an Edmond Walmart last year. He said that situations like this snake don’t happen too often but enough that he knows exactly what to do.
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“The park’s staff told me to do whatever I can to take care of this problem, they were very adamant about getting this python out,” said Bounds.
There’s no exact timeframe on when the snake will be captured and taken away but Bounds said he would let us know as soon as it is.
If you or someone you know has any sort of animal issues or needs repairs due to wildlife Bounds said you can call them at 405-919-8101.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
