LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. – A surprise visitor of serpentine sorts was rescued from a home over the Fourth of July weekend, and soon made its way into the heart of a Florida deputy.
Bodycam footage from the incident shows a deputy arriving at a home in Lehigh Acres in southwest Florida, where a large ball python had slithered its way by the pool.
“Oh wow,” says Deputy Roedding as he looks at the snake. “Yeah, it’s a python.”
The ball python being pulled out from behind a cooler.
(Lee County Sheriff’s Office / FOX Weather)
Roedding can be then seen holding onto the tail of the snake and pulling the animal out from behind a cooler where it was hiding.
“See? He’s not trying to bite – no, nada,” he says as he shows the snake to the homeowners, who seem both shocked and amused as they keep their distance.
Roedding shows the python to the homeowners.
(Lee County Sheriff’s Office / FOX Weather)
Roedding then places the snake into a cooler, which he uses to bring the snake to his vehicle.
Roedding holds the ball python.
(Lee County Sheriff’s Office / FOX Weather)
But the story of the snake continued, as it was later adopted by Sgt. VanPelt with the Animal Cruelty Task Force of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office.
“Proof that not all heroes wear capes… some adopt snakes,” they noted on Facebook.
VanPelt holds the ball python.
(Lee County Sheriff’s Office)
Ball pythons are not native to Florida, but have been found in the wild of the Sunshine State by way of the pet trade, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. They noted that there are no known reproducing ball python populations in the state.
The snakes are often confused with Burmese pythons, which are also a nonnative species, the FWC said. Despite looking similar, Burmese pythons are typically longer by growing to average 6-9 feet, while ball pythons rarely grow beyond 4 feet long.
