A snake native to the jungles of central and west Africa was found in the parking lot at Sellersville Elementary School Thursday.
The 20-inch ball python was spotted curled up on the pavement by a teacher dismissing kindergartners around lunch time, school officials said.
As the students watched from a distance, head custodian Barry Greiser used a shovel to whisk the snake into a bucket until police arrived.
Students had reported seeing the snake at least twice since Monday, but teachers, who hadn't seen it, dismissed it as a garden snake, Greiser said.
Greiser said he was surprised to see the size of the snake after being called to the parking lot shortly before noon.
Police handed the snake over to Len Knapp, a reptile afficionado, who is coincidentally a retired Sellersville teacher.
''We have no reports of missing snakes and we don't know of any places in the area where they come from,'' Pennridge Regional Police Chief David Mettin said.
The ball python got its name because, when threatened, it rolls into a tight ball, tucking its head inside its coils, according to About.com.
Ball pythons, which can be bought in pet stores, are considered good snakes for a beginning snake owner, growing to a maximum size of 3-5 feet, the Web site said.
''They are common to the pet trade because they are relatively easy to breed,'' said Knapp, who will keep the snake among his 60 other reptiles until an owner steps forward.
Could it have been one of Knapp's?
''All of mine are accounted for,'' he laughed. He characterized the snake as being ''about as dangerous as a 3-month-old kitten.''
If someone doesn't claim the snake, he will put it up for adoption.
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