PEARL CITY, Oahu, Hawaii -- A Pearl City man got a surprise Thursday morning when he found a two-foot long python on the toilet seat in his bathroom.
Glenn Taijeron called 911 after discovering the snake (pictured, right). Police alerted the state Department of Agriculture.
"I was just coming in, finishing up my shaving and everything and needed to use the bathroom," Taijeron said to KITV4 News reporter
Tasha Kobashigawa. "As I was going to the toilet to lift the lid, I lifted it halfway and saw this big old brown thing."
A dispatcher caught the snake, which was identified as a ball python. The non-venomous snake is common on the mainland and related to boa constrictors. They're called ball pythons because they coil around their head into a tight ball when frightened.
Authorities said that they don't know how the snake got into the house. The Taijeron family just bought the house two months ago. Agriculture inspectors suspect that the snake was living in the home before the family moved in.
"They're very hearty animals," agriculture inspector Domingo Cravalho, Jr. said. "They can withstand long periods without eating and drinking. It's just a matter of them feeling comfortable and waiting it out for food to come along."
The snake, which officials believed was about 1-year-old, was taken to the plant quarantine station in Honolulu. It will be sent to a zoo on the mainland for exhibition.
Possession of snakes is illegal in Hawaii, punishable by fines of up to $200,000 and up to three years in jail. The Department of Agriculture encourages people with illegal pets to turn them in under the state's amnesty program, which provides immunity from prosecution.
Copyright 2007 by TheHawaiiChannel.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
