A 5-foot-long, green Python snake was captured early yesterday morning by cops after it was found near a gas station in the Bronx.
A worker at the Extra Gas Station alerted cops about 1 a.m. Tuesday morning when he found the dark-green beast slithering near some trash inside the station on East 161st Street near Park Avenue in the Melrose section, sources said.
It took some time, but cops finally corralled the snake into a box, and he was delivered to an East Harlem animal shelter for evaluation.
The reptile will eventually be sent to a habitat facility far from the Bronx, a shelter spokesman said.
The snake, which is about 3-years-old and appeared to be healthy, is not necessarily a danger to humans, officials said.
It can bite but it’s bite is not poisonous. Instead of extracting a dangerous venom like other snakes, the python constricts its prey by wrapping itself around it and squeezing, officials said.
It is not clear how the animal ended up at the service station, but officials speculate it may have been a pet and had outgrown its home, prompting it’s owner to abandoned it.
Finding snakes in the city is not uncommon. The NYC Center for Animal Care and Control takes custody of about 15 snakes found in the urban wilderness every year, officials said.