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A couple in Queensland, Australia, had a scaley surprise when they walked into their hallway on Thursday evening to find an 8-foot coastal carpet python staring back at them.
The wife ran outside while her husband called local snake catcher, Jeremy De Haan of Jeremy's Reptile Relocations Townsville.
"This snake was believed to have entered the house through the roof, climbing down into the house via an exposed ceiling fitting in the kitchen," De Haan told Newsweek.
The python did not move for the entire duration of De Haan's drive to the property, in Bushland Beach.
"It stayed in the hallway of the house in the same laying position," he said. "It was quite placid."
The snake was between 13 and 17 pounds, but was still fairly easy to remove.
"No tools required for this job, gentle tail grab and straight into my catch bag," De Haan said. "From me grabbing snake to it being secured in bag was under five seconds."
Coastal carpet pythons are a subspecies of carpet python that can be found mostly along the east coast of Australia. Carpet pythons, named for the carpet-like camouflage on their scales, can grow to lengths of up to 13 feet, although most do not exceed 8 feet, according to the Queensland Department of Environment and Science.
The species is non-venomous and instead kills prey by constriction. They hunt by ambush and use heat-sensitive organs on their lower jaw to track down the body heat of other animals, such as rodents, birds and possums.
Although their large size is intimidating, carpet pythons play an important role in their local ecosystem, keeping populations of rats and mice in check.
De Haan said that the species is typically fairly placid and rarely poses a threat to humans.
However, "nasty bites can take place for those trying to catch, handle or harass them," he said.
De Haan shared a photo of the snake to his Facebook page in a post that has received hundreds of likes and comments.
"I'd give this noodle my house keys. It's her house now," said one user.
"Nope. Nope. Nope. I would need an ambulance," said another.
The python was released a few kilometers away from the couple's house in some nearby bushland.
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About the writer
Pandora Dewan is a Senior Science Reporter at Newsweek based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on science, health ... Read more