Earlier this month, Bryce Lockett of Snake Catchers Brisbane & Gold Coast got a call from a concerned homeowner in Australia. While using the bathroom, they’d noticed what appeared to be a scaly tail emerging from the ceiling overhead.
“[It was] hanging out of a hole in the roof, where the plumbing went through,” Lockett told The Dodo.
This was the first indication that a reptile had taken up residence in the home — but it wouldn’t be the last.
Arriving to the house, Lockett searched the attic for an intruder. But instead he found this:
Incredibly, Lockett had stumbled upon the massive remnants of a snake’s shed skin. It measured in at just over 14 feet long! Even Lockett, who works with snakes daily, was impressed by the remarkable find.
“[I] always love getting a snake skin that’s fully intact,” Lockett told The Dodo. “It doesn’t happen too often with snakes over the 10-foot mark.”
Not only did this indicate that a snake was likely present, but, boy, was he going to be a whopper.
After a little more searching, Lockett found him curled up in a wall cavity:
Whopper is right. The snake, a coastal carpet python native to the region, was jaw-droppingly huge.
Though not quite as long as the skin Lockett had found (as skins tend to stretch while being shed), the snake still measured in at well over 10 feet long.
“Size wise, he would be in my top 10 [largest snakes ever caught],” Lockett said.
Lockett didn’t stop to marvel at the snake for too long — both had other business to attend to, after all. Though, as the homeowner no doubt appreciated, that business would be happening elsewhere.
The snake was escorted to a more fitting location where no one would be bothered by his majestic and massive presence.
«He was released into wildlife corridor where he will continue to feed and grow,» Lockett said.
