Martin County deputies capture 12-foot python | Snake photo galleries


Report sightings of pythons and other non-native species to Exotic Species Hotline: 888-IveGot1 (888-483-4861), or smart phone application IVEGOT1

If it's an emergency, call 911 or FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline: 888-404-3922

PORT SALERNO — The sound of someone feverishly ringing the doorbell and banging on the front door at 6:45 a.m. Tuesday awoke Stasha French.

She opened the door to a young man she didn't know who said "you have to see what's in your yard."

It still was dark outside in the South Pointe neighborhood, but she couldn't miss the massive yellow and white snake lying across the grass thanks to her house's security light.

A 12-foot albino Burmese python was just a few feet from her front door.

French called the Martin County Sheriff's Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Guarding the sidewalk

While waiting for officials to get to her house in the 4400 block of Southeast Murray Cove Circle, she rerouted children walking on the sidewalk to the nearby bus stop.

"I just was camped out on my sidewalk sitting," French said. "I had a trash can, and I was just keeping an eye on it."

She noticed the snake seemed to have just eaten something because it had a large bulge in its body. One of her neighbors mentioned hearing "horrible cat howling" at 4 a.m. that morning, French said.

When another neighbor poked the snake with a broom handle, it regurgitated two cats.

Even though French thinks they were feral cats that lived in the woods nearby, she still had to look away.

"I was really upset that he was throwing up the cats after he ate them and killed them," French said. "Now they died for no reason."

Good excuse to be late for work

She didn't make it to work on time and told her boss she had "a really good story" about why she was late.

Officials began arriving by 8:30 a.m., she said. Martin County sheriff's deputy William Weiss was among five deputies who responded.

Weiss knew he was the only one on duty with snake-handling equipment. He's dealt with snakes previous in Martin County but "none quite that big" and never an albino one, Weiss said.

"It's usually a smaller python that somebody let out — something this big is pretty rare," Weiss said. "You're looking at this enormous snake, and you're thinking this is just a beautiful animal, but somebody had failed to take care of it."

Deputies found the snake wrapped throughout the hedges along French's property and had a tough time getting it out, Weiss said.

Pulling snake from hedges

He pinned down its head with a snake hook, grabbed its mouth and pulled it out of the hedges. One deputy held the head, a second deputy held the midsection and a third deputy held the end to make sure the snake didn't wrap around someone's arm. They carried it to an empty trash can until FWC arrived and took it to the Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter, which didn't find an ID chip in the snake to help locate the owner.

Capturing pythons is common in the Everglades but not albino ones, he said. Only three people in Martin County have registered Burmese pythons.

"It seems like it's moving more north," Weiss said. "We're getting snakes now a lot more than we ever did. I've been working here for 25 years, and we never had that before."


Busch Wildlife Sanctuary in Jupiter doesn't have room to keep Tuesday's python permanently, so another licensed sanctuary will have to adopt it unlessFlorida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission can find its owner, said Executive Director David Hitzig.

When the state passed its 2010 law prohibiting ownership of Burmese pythons, it allowed people who already owned the reptiles to register with FWC and subject themselves to annual inspections at their homes. Just three people in Martin County registered that year.

One of them was Matthew New of Stuart, who owned a pair of albino green Burmese pythons. However, both pets became sick and died a few years ago.

New said he wasn't pleased Tuesday to hear about someone losing their python under different circumstances.

"That's pure ignorance and poor training to own a Burmese python and not have it secured," he said. "I had locks on my cases when I had mine. If a Burmese python gets out, it's like a loaded weapon."

New said he hopes FWC officials are able to find the owner of Tuesday's loose python. The actions of an irresponsible snake owner gives a bad reputation to others, New said.

Residents who own snakes named on the conditional reptile list face a misdemeanor if they allow them to escape.

Another former python owner, Bob Buehler of Stuart, said he gave up his 9-foot-long pet, Sonny, a few years ago during a FWC amnesty event.

"The Burmese pythons are still one of my favorite snakes," Buehler said. "They're one of the nicest and gentle snakes out there. But it's a big responsibility for the space and food you need to take care of them."

Staff writer Lamaur Stancil contributed to this report.