NEWBERRY, SC (WACH) — A Newberry man, along with his son and nephew, has captured a massive snake that had been on the loose for weeks, drawing attention on social media.
Warren Gallman said the giant snake had been missing for three weeks, according to Facebook posts, and he had been trying to locate it for days.
Gallman finally caught the snake on the side of the road near Prosperity last night.
You can see it stretched across the road in the video,” Gallman said. “I got scars right here from when he pulled me into the briars by himself. I actually thought my son and my nephew were pulling him back, but that’s just how strong the snake was.”
Gallman, who walked away with scars from the encounter, said the snake was reported missing on social media, and it became his family’s mission to find it.
He estimated the snake to be 12 feet long and said it took more than one attempt to secure it.
Experts from the Riverbanks Zoo suggest the snake could be a Burmese or reticulated python, both known for their strength.
Sean Foley, a herpetologist at the zoo, said,
So definitely not an adult and not a baby either, it looked from the video I saw maybe 10 feet or so that’s maybe less than half grown, so it’s still a young animal.”
Foley explained that such snakes are often purchased as small pets but can grow up to 20 feet long, leading some owners to release them when they become too large to manage.
What they’re doing is they’re usually buying it as a two or three-foot baby snake and it looks really cute and you can keep it in the smallest cage but 5-6 years go by and all of a sudden you have a 10-12 foot snake and it’s going to get even bigger and you don’t have the appropriate accommodations for it,” Foley said.
Gallman, who has never caught a python before, expressed relief that the ordeal is over.
It was kind of haywire you know, nobody knew exactly what to do we just didn’t want to get bit. My main thing was. I got to hold the head, but he’s way stronger than I thought he was, I got the scars to show it,” he said.
Currently, Gallman is keeping the python at his home until the proper authorities can take it.
Riverbanks Zoo officials advise that if you encounter a python or large snake, you should leave it alone and contact them, the Department of Natural Resources, or critter removal services.