Police Issue Warning For 15-Foot Python Missing In Morgantown
MORGANTOWN, W.Va (KDKA) -- How do you catch a 15-foot-long python?
Maybe with a big stick or the end of brooms or maybe even a chicken?
"Oh we went way up there," said Kelly Wilken, a worker at Exotic Jungle Pet Superstore in Morgantown, now helping the efforts to locate the python. "I don't even know how far at this point. We don't even know what we're dealing with, it's just a hunt. Like a needle in a haystack."
A 15-foot-long needle and too much for its owner to handle.
"I'm told he was getting afraid of it and had it in his car to take it to have it euthenized," said Emily Sanders, the owner of Exotic Jungle Pet Superstore. "It was a pet so it should be friendly, but if the guy was getting afraid of him, maybe he wasn't feeding him enough."
The python had other plans and climbed a tree and the police called the exotic pet shop in town to help with locating the serpent.
The man in the red shirt is the homeowner who lives next to where the #python was last seen. He's out helping in the #PythonPursuit pic.twitter.com/jRzWhv2otY
— Chris Hoffman (@NewsmanChris) May 31, 2019
The tree the python picked was Brandon Brammer's tree and he just moved in, but like any good neighbor does, he joined the search.
"If I find the python, the first thing I'm going to do is scream," he said. "I showed up this morning and the whole driveway was packed with people and there were cops everywhere and there was like construction going on down here and they were looking for it. I've been trying to think like how big 15 feet is, so if I stacked like two of me on top of each other, he'd still be bigger than me!"
That is why police are warning parents with small children.
"I was trying to explain to her how big that was," said Tabitha Gorbey, one of the neighbors. "I was like 'that's three times the size of mommy!'"
However, Gorbey's daughter is ready to sprint.
"I would probably run away!" She exclaimed.
Police say that because the greenery where the python went missing is so lush, they may never find it at all.
PYTHON PURSUIT update: Morgantown Police had to rush to another call so now these 3 are leading the #pythonpursuit charge. One homeowner and 2 women from Exotic Jungle Pet Superstore in #Morgantown. @KDKA pic.twitter.com/KkekixvKEM
— MEGHAN SCHILLER (@MeghanKDKA) May 31, 2019
If you come across the large python please call 911 immediately.