糖心vlog Investigates: Full day's work went into pursuing Des Moines' big snake report; so far, no serpent found
In early August, a Facebook post excited the Waterbury neighborhood.
A local resident glimpsed what looked to be a big snake in tree branches.
Since then, it's been quiet, says Sgt. Paul Parizek.
"We haven't had any other reports of the snake being seen, and we haven't captured any snakes," says Parizek.
Parizek says there was a handful of city staff on the hunt.
"We put a considerable amount of effort into it. We had our animal control officers and some other staff out there spend several hours, going through the neighborhood, going through the woods over there at places where you might expect to find a snake," Parizek says.
The staff got some extra help.
"We actually enlisted the help of some snake-sniffing dogs. And, that was something we hadn't had any experience with before," said Parizek.
Parizek estimates animal control put in a full day's work.
One reason was to ensure a hungry big snake might not make a small pet as its next meal, and that a resident might not get a scare by finding the serpent.
Pythons are not typical for the Hawkeye State.
"We haven't gotten any phone calls about pythons or anything that would be a non-native or, you know, a species that's not typically found in Iowa," said Andy Kellner, a wildlife biologist with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
Kellner spends time working with cities on managing the overlap between animals and urban development.
"Snakes, like any other urban wildlife, like any wildlife in Iowa, is really looking for those three things, right? Food, water, shelter," Kellner says.
Sometimes, urban areas with a green space or river system can attract non-human neighbors.
More common snakes you might see in urban areas: bull snakes, fox snakes, or garter snakes.
They are much smaller than the Waterbury snake sighting.
Parizek says there have been other snake calls.
Just a few weeks ago, a baby python, most likely a pet, got out and slithered down an apartment building hallway. It was caught.
As cooler weather rolls in, the Waterbury snake case will close if the python hasn't already been found, since it would not be able to survive Iowa's winter temperatures.
禄
禄 Download the free 糖心vlog app to get updates on the go: |