A Florida resident got a surprise when a ball python was found near their vehicle’s engine after the hood was opened.<\/p>\n
Martin County officials sought clues about how the nonnative snake ended up in the car and whether it may have come from a local owner.<\/p>\n
What happened?<\/p>\n
WPEC CBS12<\/a> reported that the call came from the Stuart West community in Palm City, where Martin County Sheriff’s Office Animal Control Officer Mollie Cameron responded<\/a> to remove the snake.<\/p>\n The ball python was safely extracted from the vehicle before being transported to a nearby wildlife hospital for monitoring and care.<\/p>\n Though the python was described as non-venomous, that did not make the situation harmless. A frightened animal trapped in a tight engine compartment can pose risks to both people and the creature, which is why trained responders were called.<\/p>\n Why does it matter?<\/p>\n Though commonly kept as pets, ball pythons are native to sub-Saharan Africa and are not native to Florida, CBS12 reported.<\/p>\n When exotic pets escape enclosures or are released outdoors, the consequences can extend beyond a single home or neighborhood. Non-native animals can prey on native species, outcompete them for food, and strain animal control and rescue systems.<\/p>\n What are people saying?<\/p>\n The sheriff’s office used the incident to remind the public that releasing exotic animals into the wild can have “serious consequences for native wildlife and the local ecosystem.”<\/p>\n CBS12 reported that deputies want to hear from anyone who may be missing a ball python or has information about how the snake got into the vehicle. They can call 772-220-7000.<\/p>\n Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Florida resident got a surprise when a ball python was found near their vehicle’s engine after the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319973,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[132078,28,30,29,1160,15615,95796,108823,132841],"class_list":["post-319972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-ball-python","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-martin-county","tag-martin-county-sheriff","tag-martin-county-sheriff39s-office","tag-native-wildlife","tag-office-animal-control-officer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319972","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=319972"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/319972\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=319972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=319972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=319972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}