Python found on Siesta Key will be euthanized, state wildlife agency says

A Siesta Key resident who found a 12-foot, 80-pound reticulated albino python floating in the water near his dock thought the snake was dead. It wasn’t.

But state wildlife officials, who have the snake in their custody, will soon euthanize it and perform a necropsy to see what it’s been eating.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission “conducts these necropsies to determine the snakes’ impacts on native wildlife,” said FWC spokeswoman Melody Kilborn.

Kilborn added that it’s a standard procedure for FWC to perform these necropsies on non-native species. The state wildlife agency had not received any reports of missing snakes. Its owner, if located, may face criminal charges.

Reticulated pythons aren’t native to Florida and have no known breeding communities in the state. This species of python is generally found in the wild in southeastern Asia, and individuals on the larger side eat mammals and birds swallowed whole. In 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service added reticulated pythons to the list of “injurious wildlife” and deemed it illegal to import them into the country or to transport them across state lines.

But last year an appeals court said the federal wildlife service could not stop people from transporting the reptiles across state lines, and people are still allowed to breed them in the country.

As pets, several mutations of the reticulated python have become very popular such as the “albino,” which results in a skin yellow in color rather than white.

“We certainly want to know if the snake has been released by someone,” Kilborn said.

The Siesta Key snake was fished out of cold waters in the 600 block of Treasure Boat Way on Tuesday morning, by resident Joe Volpe with the help of Bradenton-based Matthews Wildlife Rescue. That rescue did not have a license for handling reticulated pythons, according to a public Instagram post by Damen Hurd, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and vice president of Bradenton Beach’s Wildlife Inc.

Hurd declined to be interviewed by the Bradenton Herald for this story, speaking through Wildlife Inc.’s president Ed Straight.

In the post, Hurd said he was contacted by the state wildlife agency to see if he could hold onto the snake while they conduct their criminal investigation.

“I was happy to take in this emaciated snake and give her a second chance in captivity,” Hurd wrote, in part.

A couple of hours later, the agency informed him that they would instead be euthanizing the snake. Kilborn could not immediately confirm whether the agency had contacted Hurd.

The snake had roamed Siesta Key for nearly two years, Hurd said in the post. Because of how it was found, Hurd was doubtful that officials would find anything in the necropsy.

“I was quite upset,” Hurd wrote, adding that the snake was likely someone’s pet.

He said that it wasn’t the first time that this has happened: a green anaconda, native to South America, found in Florida last year also went through the same fate, only to have a rat found in its stomach.

“Really upsetting that animals are killed for no reason when there are people that are licensed and would use them for educational purposes,” Hurd added in the post. He noted that he was afraid that people knowing the outcome of this procedure would keep them from reporting exotic wildlife loose in the wild to the state agency.

FWC holds Exotic Animal Amnesty Days to prevent pet owners from releasing their exotic pets into the wild. The next one is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 4 at Disney Wilderness Preserve in Poinciana. The agency also has an Exotic Species Reporting Hotline for people who find or think they find an exotic species. They can take a picture and note its location by calling 1-888-IVE-GOT1(1-888-483-4681) or go online to IveGot1.org.

This story was originally published January 18, 2018 at 5:06 PM with the headline "Python found on Siesta Key will be euthanized, state wildlife agency says."