Urgent warning as 18ft long ‘pet' PYTHON on the loose in UK countryside after being dumped by its owner
ONE of the world's longest snakes is at large — after five were illegally dumped by their owner in the countryside.
The 18ft pythons are believed to have been kept as pets before being abandoned.
Four were recaptured by police but they are still hunting for the missing reptile.
Dog owners are being warned to keep pets on leads in the Twigmoor and Cleatham areas of rural Lincolnshire where the reticulated pythons were found.
Humberside Police say the snakes will attack only to defend themselves but can 'squeeze the life' out of their prey.
A spokesman said: 'So far four snakes have been captured by colleagues who work with exotic animals.
'They are believed to be Reticulated Pythons. We suspect that one snake may currently still be out in the wild.
'The reticulated Python is the longest species on earth. It is a non venomous constrictor snake. In the wild, they will kill their prey by biting it and then coiling around it to literally squeeze the life out of it.
'In the pet trade, these come in many colours. An 18ft Snake found at Manton is a wild type, but the other three are a mixture of two Albinos and what we think is a Pied Golden Child Morph.
'In the event that you find one in the wild in the UK, please call police immediately. DO NOT try to catch it yourself, keep an eye on it and give a What3Words location to the police so it can be assessed by an expert and collected appropriately.
'We would advise keeping dogs on a lead in the areas where these snakes were found.
'These Snakes will not attack you. They will only try to defend themselves if they feel threated. We suspect that the snakes that have been dumped were pets and this will make them less likely to bite.
'Please if you have a pet that you can no longer keep for whatever reason, please take it to an exotic animal shop or animal rescue. DO NOT release them into the wild.
'If you have any information on the release of these snakes please contact Humberside Police Rural Task Force at RTF@humberside.police.uk or call 101 quoting investigation reference 25000081788."
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