‘It’s really scary’: Florida woman ready to sell her home after dog comes face-to-face with huge python
CAPE CORAL, Fla. (WFLA) — A Cape Coral woman said she’s ready to put her home up for sale after her dog came face-to-face with a massive python in her backyard – just less than a week after a Cape couple found a 9-foot python lurking in their driveway.
Lexi Pantelup was at her home on Tuesday afternoon when she heard her dog Cane start barking outside, something she says is normal for her dog, but then he yelped – that’s when she saw the slippery intruder.
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According to WBBH, Pantelup went into her backyard, where she saw her dog and a massive snake about to go head-to-head.
“He was face to face like this through the fence,” she told the news station. “I’ve seen a little water moccasin,” she said. “I’ve had enough that are snakes like we’ve had some curled up in our lanai, you know, never anything that big. He was standing right there, and the end of his body was still in the grasses; you couldn’t see where he ended.”
Wildlife experts told Pantelup the snake was an invasive Burmese python – the same type of reptile that was found curled up next to a Cape Coral home a few weeks ago.
“It’s really scary, honestly; I’m about to put my house up for sale and go,” she said. “It’s becoming more prominent, so it’s nerve-racking.”
WBBH reported that Pantelup called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission right away, but since she didn’t have picture proof, they told her they couldn’t help.
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“You know that they’re starting to migrate up here, maybe start moving some resources up here, so you have called because, I mean, if something happened,” Pantelup told WBBH. “I don’t know what we would’ve done. We don’t know how to handle the situation.”
Pantleup said she’s not sure how the invasive species could’ve gotten into her yard but wants her sighting to serve as a warning to be aware of what could be lurking in your backyard.
If you see a Burmese python, take a photo, note your location, and immediately report the sighting to the FWC’s Exotic Species Hotline at 888-483-4681.
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