Before I write anything else, I want to clarify that I’m not a cat hater.
I’m not a super fan by any means and would never want to own one, but I grew up around them when I was kid, enjoyed Garfield and Heathcliff comic strips, and see how people can develop an attachment to them despite their semi-psychotic, standoffish behavior.
I’d also like to clarify that I do not like snakes.
I don’t know if it’s a subconscious loyalty to all saintly Patricks before me or if I’m still mortified and haunted by the river-crossing scene in Lonesome Dove, but I’d totally be fine living in a world where snakes are nothing more than mythological creatures like dragons, unicorns and Noodlers with teeth. I don’t care if most snakes are peaceful and harmless and keep pests out of gardens. Get rid of them all!
Despite my feelings for these very different types of animals, I have to admit I’m kind of rooting for this python that’s been slithering around a Southside trailer park.
Last week, KFOR filed a report documenting the snake’s existence.
Now they’ve learned it’s spent the last five months terrorizing the park’s cat, possum, and rat populations, leading to one of the saddest NextDoor feeds in town.
Via KFOR:
An expert hired to get rid of a snake seen slithering in a South Oklahoma City mobile home park found that the python was 13 feet long and had been in the neighborhood for around five months.
“We’re talking, that thing has been eating opossums, foot-long rats, and cats,” said Trevor Bounds of Red Beard Wildlife Control. “The mouth on that thing is the size of your foot and when it opens up you’re going to be able to fit something pretty large in there.”
Bounds said that the snake is an albino Reticulated Python which is one of the world’s largest species of snake. He said that it looked to have crawled and survived underneath one particular home.
“They can get up to 24 feet if you let them, maybe longer. The body on this snake is like Mike Tyson’s bicep but 13 feet long,” said Bounds…
The snake started causing problems, Bounds said when half of the cats in the neighborhood started going missing.
Trailer park. Foot-long rats. Snakes. Missing cats?
As a guy who proudly spent the first quarter of my life living in the heart of Southside just off 33rd and Santa Fe, this may be the most Southside thing I’ve ever read! The only thing missing was the revelation that residents were feeding the snake giant burritos from Los Tacos.
Here’s more:
Bounds said that he has created a trap around the home and has a 24-hour live feed watching it at all times.
“As soon as that thing makes a move the camera alerts my phone and then I’m able to get out there and take care of this thing,” said Bounds.
You might recall, that Bounds and his crew tackled a skunk that snuck into an Edmond Walmart last year. He said that situations like this snake don’t happen too often but enough that he knows exactly what to do.
Ah yes, who doesn’t recall the time Bounds got rid of the skunk in the Edmond Walmart – that’s definitely one of the most unforgettable moments in Oklahoma history.
Anyway, I may not be a professional animal extractor, but wouldn’t an easier solution be to set a snake trap in the park and toss a footlong rat, cat, or adventurous small child armed with a knife, football helmet, and slingshot inside as bait?
I know it doesn’t involve infrared cameras, or cell phone alerts and may be kind of inhumane, but it would probably save a bunch of time and money for everyone.
Stay with The Lost Ogle. We’ll keep you advised,
