Impounded python missesss owner

Click on the video icon to watch an interview with Bernie Perkins and the snake

EUGENE, Ore. -- Are you missing a 10-foot snake?

County animal control officials believe a Burmese python captured by police Tuesday night is someone's pet.

"If this is your snake," said Bernie Perkins, senior field enforcement officers with Lane County Animal Services, "please bring proof and re-claim it."

Perkins said LCAS deals with between two and four snakes per year. He said boas are more common than pythons. Only about half of snakes taken in by LCAS are reclaimed.

Perkins said this python, captured after a teen driver spotted it and then accidentally backed over it, has been held by people before. The snake is docile and does not show any signs of aggression and appears well taken care of.

The snake was examined by veterinarians after its capture Tuesday.

Perkins suspect whoever is missing the snake may have been missing it for a while.

"A lot of times if a snake gets away from somebody consequently the snake can be gone for 2 weeks before it even shows up," he said. "It can be under the house, in the shrubbery."

Until the owner steps forward, the snake is in good hands: Perkins said LCAS has a lot of reptile resources and people who know how to take care of snakes properly.