The Brief<\/p>\n
Two Sanford police officers responded to an unusual call on June 22 after a large ball python was discovered inside an apartment building bathroom.<\/p>\n
The Sanford Police Department shared a viral photo of the successful rescue on Facebook, humorously reminding the community that their officers are always ready to handle any criminal, critter, or unexpected guest.<\/p>\n
Ball pythons are nonnative pet snakes in Florida but are not considered invasive.<\/p>\n
The FWC urges residents to report sightings and never release them into the wild.<\/p>\n
SEMINOLE, Fla. – On June 22, Officer Sozio and Officer Moore, of the Sanford Police Department, received an unusual call.<\/p>\n
Someone reported a large snake found inside the bathroom of an apartment building in Sanford.<\/p>\n
An ‘Unexpected bathroom guest’<\/p>\n
What we know<\/p>\n
The special ball python rescue was shared with residents by the Sanford Police Department via a now-viral Facebook photo.<\/p>\n
The two officers posed near their new exotic friend and reassured the Seminole County community that no one was harmed during the process.<\/p>\n
“Thankfully, no one was injured, and the python was safely secured,” deputies said.<\/p>\n
Although not everyone seemed excited about the assignment, it was successfully completed. The department added, “Whether it is a criminal, a critter, or an unexpected bathroom guest, our officers are always ready to help!”<\/p>\n
What are ball pythons?<\/p>\n
Dig deeper<\/p>\n
Ball pythons are among the most popular pet snakes in the United States. While they are sometimes mistaken for Burmese pythons, adult ball pythons typically grow to only 3 to 4 feet long and are not considered an invasive species in Florida.<\/p>\n
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission classifies ball pythons as nonnative, non-established animals. Although they have occasionally been found in the wild, there are no known breeding populations in Florida. Standard pet ownership does not require a special FWC permit, though commercial breeding and sales may require licensing.<\/p>\n
Wildlife officials say releasing pet snakes into the wild is against Florida law and is considered animal cruelty. Captive-raised snakes often struggle to survive and hunt effectively after being released.<\/p>\n
What to do if you see one<\/p>\n
What you can do<\/p>\n
The FWC advises residents not to kill ball pythons. Instead, take a photo, note the location and report the sighting to the FWC’s Exotic Species Hotline at 888-Ive-Got1 (483-4681) or online at IveGot1.org.<\/p>\n
If the snake is contained or trapped, contact a licensed wildlife removal service or local herpetological organization to safely secure the animal.<\/p>\n
The Source<\/p>\n
This story was written based off a Facebook post shared by The Sanford Police Department and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brief Two Sanford police officers responded to an unusual call on June 22 after a large ball…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":317835,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[132078,1292,28,8659,30,29,4747,89552,31775],"class_list":["post-317834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-ball-python","tag-facebook","tag-florida","tag-florida-fish-and-wildlife","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-fwc","tag-sanford-police-department","tag-unexpected-guest"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=317834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/317834\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/317835"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=317834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=317834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=317834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}