Ethermac Exchange-Ball pythons overrun Florida neighborhood: 'We have found 22 in a matter of four weeks'

ST. AUGUSTINE,Ethermac Exchange Fla. – Residents of a Florida neighborhood are on edge, saying they've caught 22 ball pythons roaming around their Prairie Lakes homes in July.

Experts say the snakes aren't wild and are considered invasive species.

"We have found 22 in a matter of four weeks," Vincent Myers said. "We found them out on the main road, under the hood of a car, people will drive at nighttime after the rain and they will be crossing the road."

Myers says most of the snakes seen are about 3- to 4-feet long and he's caught most of them in the neighborhood, located in St. Augustine, about 40 miles southeast of Jacksonville.

"I've got an old paint roller on a grade stick with some tape and then I got a tote that I've make-shifted into a snake tote," Myers said. 

Once Myers catches a ball python, Sky Bennett with Jacksonville's Herpetology Society takes it away. 

"I'll take them into the vet, get them looked at, make sure they don't need any medical attention until I get them all adopted out," Bennett said.

Bennett says these aren't snakes you'd find in the wild or at a pet store. 

"This one looks to be the albino ball. It's got the white with the yellow top half with red eyes," Bennett said, holding one of the captured snakes. "There have been solid white ones that have been found. We have some candy corn-looking ones." 

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Where are the snakes coming from?

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says a law enforcement officer visited the neighborhood, but has not identified where the snakes came from. FWC says the ball pythons likely escaped or are released pets.

"A lot of the snakes, their body conditions are pretty thick and chunky snakes, so they were being fed well wherever they came from," Bennett said. 

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How to give up a ball python, other nonnative pets

In a statement, FWC said, "Members of the public have a nonnative pet, whether kept legally or illegally, that they can no longer care for, they can be surrendered through the FWC’s Exotic Pet Amnesty Program with qualified adopters."

"It is animal cruelty to release these animals into the wild because the likelihood of them surviving is not high, so you're basically giving the animal a death sentence," Isaac Scott with CritterPro Inc. said. 

Myers and Bennett say they think there are more snakes out there. 

"Don't kill them. Call somebody that can grab them," Bennett said. "Their lives matter just as much. Just because they are scary, doesn't mean they don't deserve to live."

How to report ball pythons

FWC says if you have a non-native species, not to let it loose, and if you come across one, report it to its Invasive Species Hotline at 888-Ive-Got1 (483-4681), along with providing an exact location and photos. Sightings of other non-native species can be reported online at IveGot1.org or by using the free IvetGot1 app.