Michigan man captures python on the loose

What looked to be a big stick lying in the road turned into an amazing surprise for Doug Montgomery.

At around 10 p.m. Tuesday, Montgomery was driving to pick up his daughters from a church event when he passed a giant python lying in the middle of Pontiac Trail north of South Lyon.

As Montgomery swerved to avoid it, he saw its true nature.

Deciding to not let a potentially dangerous animal stay on the loose, Montgomery pulled over. He tried to capture it by lifting its midsection with a baseball back.

The python wasn't having it.

"It was very aggressive," Montgomery said. "At one point it jumped 3 feet in the air."

Using gentle force, Montgomery subdued the python with the bat. Meanwhile, a passenger helped and the two used a shovel to lift the 12-foot snake into a plastic container.

Sightings of the giant reptile caused quite a stir in the area of Pontiac Trail and 12 Mile Road.

As of Wednesday morning, Montgomery still had the snake at his Northfield Township home. He doesn't know where it came from or what he needs to do with it, but he's glad it's not in a position to hurt anyone.

Link

Huh?

"Using gentle force" and "subdued the python with the bat" don't exactly go together in the same sentence!! Um, just how does one gently subdue a python with a baseball bat....little taps to the head? Also..."used a shovel" to move the python to a plastic container kinda sounds like the python was in more than one piece after being "gently subdued with a baseball bat". Nowhere in the story does it say that the python is still alive at his home. Methinks the python got the crap beat out of it and is now awaiting disposal...shame. Another fine piece of journalistic reporting by the non-biased and even keeled media...NOT..lol!!

Scott Nellis

It says at the end he doesn't know what to do it. I'm sure he would know what to do with a dead snake. If a baseball bat is all I had to work with, I could use it to subdue an aggressive 12ft python, and without hurting it. You could use it to hold its head down for a grab or just to prod the snake in the right direction. Rather the bat than my arm.

The gist of the article was that he wasn't trying to hurt it.

ok...

So, why do they use a shovel to lift it into the container if it's already "subdued"? If, like you say, they used the bat to gain control of the head, wouldn't it be a whole lot easier to lift the body of the snake with your hands (he had help)? My whole point was that the article is very poorly written and somewhat confusing. Is the snake dead or alive? I suppose you could bury a dead snake, but where? In the guy's yard? Toss it in the garbage (big stink)? If it's alive, is it still in that plastic container? It's just a very poorly written article.

Scott Nellis

It's just a very poorly written article.

Click to expand...

I agree this statement completely. The shovel thing I took as just another means of keeping away from the "deadly coils". I could be wrong though. I wouldn't think it would be too difficult to load a dead python into a plastic container, even a 12 footer(IMO the size estimation is doubtful from past experience).

Did you look open the link? The animal is alive and looks healthy.

Ok...

Um, no...I didn't look at the link. I took a gander just now and yes, the photo shows a very much alive python. Ok, so I guess the python is still alive....still a very poorly written article...lol.

Scott Nellis

Update

Detroit Man Ready To Rid Himself Of 12-Foot Python

DETROIT A man in a Detroit suburb slammed on the brakes after he spotted a 12-foot python in the middle of the road Thursday.

Doug Montgomery felt bad for the snake so he captured it and took it home but he says the snake has gotten aggressive and he hopes he can find a zoo that will take him.

"It's been a nightmare. It got out last night and it was very difficult to catch. So I grabbed its tail and I lift the front end of it up with a broomstick and it would lunge at me," said Doug.

His teen daughter thinks he's a hero for saving the snake that might have been run over if not for her father.

"It was huge and it like lunged up out of the ground and it was really freaky," said Heather Adams, who spotted the snake.

"I appreciate animals so I don't want it to be killed. I'd like to see it in an institution and not a home," said Montgomery.

The humane Society has contacted Montgomery and plans to take the African Python to a zoo.

“I just hope it doesn't get out again," said Heather.

Link

The end of the story

Apparently it turns out that is was an African Rock Python.

It was quite a week for Doug Montgomery and his unlikely acquaintance.

In the course of four days, Montgomery twice captured and kept a giant python, dealt with a media frenzy in his home and refused the offers of a man looking to use the snake for a religious ceremony. It was enough to make him feel like he was being constricted.

The experience started on Tuesday night in Lyon Township. Montgomery — a Northfield Township resident — was driving to pick up his kids from a church event when he passed what appeared to be a fallen tree branch lying in the middle of residential Fairland Drive, off of Pontiac Trail.

However, as he passed the long obstruction, Montgomery discovered it was actually a large snake.

Using a baseball bat, some help from the neighbors and a large amount of savvy, Montgomery subdued the evidently escaped python and brought it home for safe keeping in an empty fish tank.

It was harder than it sounds.

"I've always been a critter catcher," Montgomery said. "It was very aggressive."

Getting the hungry, agitated snake back in captivity was just the beginning of Montgomery's adventure. Clearly the large reptile — presumably an African Rock Python, not a typically less agressive Burmese as previously reported — was not fit to be slithering around a quiet suburb, and Montgomery's challenge was to find a safe home for the creature.

After local media caught wind of his new, unusual house guest, the Michigan Humane Society gave Montgomery a call. Inquiries at the Detroit Zoo and other organizations proved fruitless, but the humane society offered to take the animal off of his hands. The help couldn't have come too soon.

On Wednesday night, Montgomery discovered the aggressive snake had escaped from it's temporary lodging. With a length of 10 to 12 feet ("It's not the kind of thing you want to measure," Montgomery said) the strong snake managed to knock the top off the fish tank and escape into Montgomery's sun porch.

For the second time, he used modest tools, including a broomstick, to get the animal under control and into its cage.

"It was pretty scary," he said of the second encounter. "I was able to tire him out, along with myself."

With television reporters, snake enthusiasts and other interested parties keeping his phone off the hook, Montgomery said he was happy when the humane society arrived to take the python away on Friday afternoon.

Jan Cantle, the society worker who first contacted Montgomery, was on-hand to help remove the animal. She said the snake would be held in Rochester Hills for four days while veterinarians evaluate and feed it.

If, after four days, a legitimate owner doesn't claim it, Cantle said the snake will be taken to a zoo or sanctuary.

Based upon the animal's character and species, Cantle said the snake likely belongs in a sanctuary instead of a private residence. However, she said this was not the first time she has seen an exotic animal wind up in a place where it doesn't belong.

"It's an African Rock Python. Their temperament is not good. We don't recommend that they be in a private residence," Cantle said. "People have a tendency to get exotic animals (as pets) without thinking through what the commitment is."

Cantle said it is possible that the snake escaped on its own or was released by an overwhelmed owner. She said the animal likely never represented a fatal threat to Lyon residents, but a bite or other attack from a cornered python could lead to a nasty injury.

As for the snake's hosts, Montgomery said he and his family were glad to see it move on, particularly with the knowledge that it would be in good hands.

"I feel relieved that the humane society is taking it," he said. "And I'm relieved that we're getting it out of our house."

Link