Seven-foot pet snake recovered after day on the loose

PETERSBURG – Some downtown residents were relieved to learn Tuesday evening that a seven-foot snake that had gotten loose in their neighborhood had been found and returned to its owner.

A 50-pound, seven-foot Burmese python went missing late Monday night or early Tuesday morning from a home in the 200 block of Henry Street. The 3½-year-old reptile is the pet of Matt Graham, a construction worker who has owned the female snake for about four months. The previous owner had the snake for most of its life, he said.

While the snake was AWOL on Tuesday, Graham reassured neighbors that despite her large size, she didn’t present a danger.

“I can understand people being intimidated,” he said. However, he explained, “She’s very docile, she’s used to people, she’s used to crowds.”

In addition, he said, “I fed her last night. She ate a rabbit. That’s one way people can spot her – she’s pretty swollen.”

Graham said he first noticed that the python was missing when he got up around 5 a.m. Tuesday to get ready for work. The window in the third-floor room where he kept the snake was broken and the snake was nowhere to be seen.

Petersburg Animal Control officers and TV news crews continued throughout the day to patrol the neighborhood just north of Centre Hill.

Doug Haase was working Tuesday afternoon at Haase Design on Bank Street, a business owned by his nephew, Kris Haase, which sits directly behind Graham’s building. He said he hadn’t seen any sign of the missing snake when he opened the business in the morning. “A seven-foot snake – I’m pretty sure I’m not going to miss that,” he said.

Joseph Parham, who lives just up the street from Graham, said an Animal Control officer had gone through the neighborhood warning residents to keep an eye on their pets. Parham said he has no pets but some of his neighbors have cats.

Parham said he has lived on Henry Street for about 12 years and had no idea that there was an exotic reptile living nearby. But he had a theory about where searchers should look for the snake.

“The river’s not too far from here,” he said. “It might just want some water. That’s probably where it is.”

The python was in fact found late Tuesday afternoon in a brushy area near Graham’s home, said Petersburg Police spokeswoman Esther Hyatt.

According to Web site Wikipedia, the Burmese python is one of the six largest snake species in the world and can reach a length of as much as 19 feet. The species is often found near water and is considered an excellent swimmer. The python also can climb trees and but spends much of its time hidden in underbrush.