A ball python was found in an unexpected place in Lubbock, Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lubbock Animal Services picked up the snake at the Tinseltown movie theater, and no owner came forward to claim it.<\/p>\n
Here’s what to know<\/p>\n
As KFMX reported<\/a>, Lubbock Animal Services posted a photo<\/a> of the unusual cinemagoer on its Facebook page.<\/p>\n A snake inside a public theater isn’t a typical wildlife sighting, and it likely appeared in the venue because of human activity.<\/p>\n The episode illustrates the kinds of calls animal services departments can receive beyond the usual stray cats and dogs.<\/p>\n A dark theater full of rows of seats, moviegoers, and employees moving between auditoriums is not designed for a missing reptile, and even a nonaggressive snake could quickly cause alarm.<\/p>\n More background<\/p>\n According to KFMX, Lubbock Animal Services is often thought of as a “cat-and-dog operation.” However, its social media has also featured guinea pigs, chickens, pigs, rats, and now a snake.<\/p>\n In Lubbock, a city department better known for handling common household pets can still be called on for far more unusual cases.<\/p>\n When people keep a wider mix of animals, shelters and animal control teams end up dealing with escapes, abandonment, or recovery situations that fall well outside standard routines.<\/p>\n In this case, a likely lost pet created problems for theater workers, customers, and city responders.\u00a0<\/p>\n What’s being done?<\/p>\n Lubbock Animal Services went to Tinseltown and picked up the snake after it was spotted.<\/p>\n Animal services must be prepared for unwanted or displaced pets of many kinds, not just the furry pets most residents picture when they think of a shelter.<\/p>\n When an exotic pet gets loose, the consequences do not stay private for long, and animal services workers are the ones asked to step in.<\/p>\n The story also highlights a major concern regarding international animal trade. According to iNaturalist<\/a>, ball pythons are native to sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n Escaped animals can severely disrupt ecosystems they don’t belong in by preying on native animal populations \u2014 the spread of Burmese pythons in Florida is one example of how a species can adapt and thrive without natural checks and balances.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Where can I learn more?<\/p>\n Ball pythons and other snakes sometimes turn up in unexpected places.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 In Florida, deputies searched for an owner after a ball python curled around a car engine<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2022 In Singapore, park contractors carried out a drain rescue after workers spotted a reticulated python<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2022 In the Mid-South, experts warned that small openings are letting reptiles in as snake calls rose 50%<\/a>.<\/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 ball python was found in an unexpected place in Lubbock, Texas.\u00a0 Lubbock Animal Services picked up the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":475057,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-475056","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475056","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475056"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475056\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/475057"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}