Groton police encounter escaped python in patrol car – NBC Connecticut

A strange call to Groton police Tuesday night sparked a brief “hiss moment” when officers had to make an interesting arrest: a 4-foot-long snake.

The department announced on Facebook Wednesday afternoon that a ball python was found late Tuesday evening at the Ledgewood Condominiums on Meridian Street.

“The snake … is currently in custody at Critter Cop,” the post said. “Please contact police to release the snake from Critter Jail on bail.”

The “critter cop” is Jay Johnson, a nuisance wildlife removal specialist, who said he was asleep when he received a panicked call from Groton police around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday.

“They freaked out,” Johnson said. “They said they had a snake in the back seat of the patrol car.”

Officers, Johnson said, used a large plastic tub to contain the snake before placing it in the patrol car. But when the tub’s lid came off in the back seat, officers encountered a new problem: a runaway.

“They didn’t want to touch it,” Johnson said.

Johnson, who owns a 24-hour wildlife control company aptly named “The Critter Cop,” was on site within an hour to arrest the python.

The Salem resident said he gets calls about nuisance snakes “all the time,” but even he admitted this was his first time.

Normally, Johnson explained, he is called to remove captured pests that can then be released back into the wild. But this snake, a ball python that he estimated to be about two years old, was the exact opposite: a “very docile” domestic snake that had either escaped or been released.

For now, the rescued snake is safe in Johnson’s home. Soon, however, a local nonprofit will give the python another chance to be someone’s pet.

Amid the chaos Tuesday night, Groton police also contacted Jarrod Ackles, a volunteer reptile rescuer, about the escaped snake in an officer’s patrol car.

The New London nonprofit he works with, A Shedding Chance Reptile Rescue, specializes in rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming abandoned reptiles.

“Reptiles are some of the most neglected animals in the pet industry,” said Amanda Coler, owner of A Shedding Chance. “When we hear of a reptile in trouble, it’s practically a matter of life or death for the animal, so we respond immediately.”

But when Groton police messaged Ackles on Facebook, he was asleep.

“When I woke up and saw it, I was like, ‘Wait, what?'” said Ackles, who owns ball pythons himself. “I thought I was dreaming.”

When Ackles called Groton police on Wednesday morning, Johnson had already delivered the python.

So Ackles made a second phone call – this time to Johnson.

“I said, ‘If you don’t want to keep him and you don’t have a destination for him to go, I will definitely take him in and find him a good home,'” Ackles said.