Whidbey Island couple get big surprise from ‘tiny’ 2-foot-long ball python

WHIDBEY ISLAND — A North Whidbey couple discovered an unusual snake in their lawn last week.

Fortunately, the creature isn’t treacherous, as in the metaphorical “snake in the grass.” In fact, an employee at Whidbey Animals’ Improvement Foundation, or WAIF, described the creature — which is awaiting a new home at the shelter — as “very cute and very friendly.”

Tammy Esparza, Island County’s animal control officer, said an elderly couple at a home on Zylstra Road were out in their yard and noticed the legless creature, which they immediately recognized as being exotic. They called around to neighbors to ask if anyone lost a pet snake but ended up contacting animal control.

Esparza responded to the call. She said she was expecting to find a garter snake, which are native to the island, but was surprised to see that it was a ball python, a nonvenomous constrictor from Africa. At 2 feet long, it’s just a little guy in the python world. She estimates the snake to be about a year old.

As Esparza explained, a ball python needs consistently warm temperatures and cannot survive on Whidbey Island, even in the summer. The couple who found the snake placed a clear plastic tub over it, which provided a nice toasty resting place.

Esparza doesn’t know where the snake came from. She surmised that it might have escaped from a home in the area or possibly been abandoned.

The ball python’s cousin, the Burmese python, has caused massive ecological damage in Florida. People released pets into the Everglades, and they have reproduced widely and wiped out small mammal populations.

The state, however, has no known reproducing populations of ball pythons, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Moreover, the species, which is the most popular pet snake, is known to be friendly and easy to handle. And “cute,” at least to some.

Esparza brought the snake to the WAIF shelter, where it is living in an aquarium donated by a staff member. Donna Dunn, the shelter manager, said the snake was named “Kylo,” and someone has already expressed interest in adopting it.

It’s the first “stray” snake to end up in the shelter, but not the first reptile. Last year, iguanas called WAIF home for a time.