Python Found In Shed Weighed More Than 100 Pounds, Ate Local Cats

A python discovered in a shed in Florida gave quite a scare to the unsuspecting man who found it and solved the mystery of why cats and rabbits had gone missing in the neighborhood.

The 14-foot snake was found by a man working on a home in Hialeah, Florida. Officials responded to find a Burmese python weighing close to 100 pounds, which they suspect was a pet that had escaped.

Whoever owned the giant python may have abandoned it after it grew too large, with no options for where to bring the animal. It is illegal to own or sell pythons in Florida, and it is against federal law to import the snakes or sell them across state lines.

The python in the shed was eating a cat’s skull when officials from the Miami-Dade Venom Unit responded. They also found it had shed its skin while hiding in the structure, leading them to believe it had been there for quite some time.

Video from CBS showed crews trying to figure out a way to coax the python from the shed. They ultimately took off a sliding door to reveal a giant snake that appeared to be well over 10 feet long. It took several people to get the snake into a laundry bag and carry it away.

The story of the python in the shed had a much happier outcome than another escape snake story from Monday. In Canada a boa constrictor escaped from a pet store and made its way to the apartment above the store, where it killed two young boys.

“It’s believed the snake escaped from a pet store called Reptile Ocean,” RCMP Const. Julie Rogers-Marsh said. “The victims were boys aged five and seven. They were in the apartment above the store… The preliminary investigation has led police to believe that a python snake escaped its enclosure in the store sometime overnight.”

It was unclear where the python in the shed would be taken next.