BRISTOL — Officials from the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) visited Jane Lane last week to assess whether a 7-foot-long snake wrapped in a tree was indigenous to the area.
According to the Bristol Police log, a resident called the station to report seeing the large snake in a yard on Jane Lane and thought it was possibly a python.
Bristol Police visited the area but thought they needed additional resources to determine what type of snake it was and called DEM to help. If not native the area, it would be removed.
But, the snake was left where it was, according to Kurt Blanchard, deputy chief of DEM’s environmental police.
“It didn’t need to be removed from the tree,” he said.
Officials identified the animal as either a milk or king snake — both are indigenous to the area and known for their striped skins. Mr. Blanchard said he wasn’t sure of the length of the Jane Lane snake, but he thought it was more than 5 feet long.
“Five-, 6-foot-long snakes are common to the area,” he said. “We see those all day long.”
Milk and king snakes are not harmful to humans, but they do eat rodents, birds, eggs and earthworms.