Yarmouth python was in secured enclosure: DNR

The Nova Scotia government says the person who owned a huge python that was seized earlier this week in Yarmouth County co-operated with conservation officers.

Bob Petrie, director of wildlife at the Department of Natural Resources, says the four-year-old reticulated python was found in a secure enclosure in the basement of a home. The reptile is in very good shape.

But he declined to say where the home is or where the snake was taken because officers have yet to complete their investigation.

Petrie says he didn't know how long the investigation would take or whether charges would be laid.

The find in Nova Scotia followed similar seizures in British Columbia and Ontario.

The 5.5 metre, 68-kilogram reticulated python is now part of an official investigation.

'Not a beginner pet'

Reptile specialist Mike MacDonald is looking after the snake in a secret location. He said it's up to the province to decide what will happen to it.

If there is no room in a zoo it might be euthanized, said MacDonald. For now, it’s been quarantined.

"Giant snakes are not a beginner pet," MacDonald said. "A reticulated python is arguably one of the largest snakes in the world."

Owning an exotic pet, including a reticulated python, without a license is a violation of the province’s Wildlife Act, but MacDonald said people go out of province, like to Ontario and Quebec, to buy pythons.

He said he wasn’t surprised when he heard about the Yarmouth python.

"You hear rumours," he said.

MacDonald said some people search them out because large snakes have a certain appeal.

"They are fascinating animals with beautiful patterns. It’s amazing how they can grab, kill prey without any limbs," he said.

Earlier this month, two young brothers sleeping in an apartment in Campbellton, N.B., were killed by an illegal African rock python that had escaped from its enclosure.