AVON -- Imagine being out in your backyard and coming face-to-face with a seven-foot snake!
It happened at a home in Avon when a woman was out filling up her watering can outside.
“It was on the stone on the slab and it worked its way down to the bush,” said Jason Indomenico, whose wife was the one who spotted the snake.
They kept a close eye on the snake, watching and waiting until officers arrived.
“I was worried about could he slither up under the siding. Could he get into the house? It was a little unnerving let's say that,” said Indomenico.
Thankfully, EnCon Police Officer Edward Yescott showed up and with a little help from Jason, got the jungle carpet python into a bag.
“What was going through my head was when Officer Yescott got here, he wasn't leaving without the snake. One way or another he was taking the snake with him,” said Indomenico.
Environmental Police say the snake is native to Australia, so most likely it was someone's exotic pet. It’s not venomous and is legal in Connecticut.
“We don't have any reports of missing snakes, so we believe that it's simply a pet that it either got too large or too much to handle and someone released it,” said Chris Collibee with the State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
They warn that you should make sure you can care for a snake like this before you buy one. Neighbors say that's an understatement.
“At least it's taken care of. That's good. And it's not reproducing or eating other pets,” said Angela Cedeno, who lives nearby in Simsbury.
“It's a little disconcerting that someone would go get a pet and then when it gets to be seven or eight feet long just let it out into the wild, so I think that would be a good message to anybody watching, do not do that,” said Indomenico.
DEEP says the snake was taken to a wildlife rehabilitation center.