Verdun’s missing python captured
Lady the python may have regretted its great escape soon after slithering away from its Verdun home almost six weeks ago.
The 1.2-metre python was found alive but not well on Monday afternoon, not far from its owner’s house.
“It’s alive, but it looks really sick” and was rushed to a veterinary hospital, Verdun borough mayor JeanFrançois Parenteau said.
The python made headlines after it escaped on Aug. 25.
Reporters flocked to the area to cover the search for Lady, who is not considered dangerous to humans. (The snake is neither venomous nor able to strangle anyone.)
Parenteau said Animex, a company hired to capture the python, told him the snake “will survive, but it will need time to recover.”
It may not have eaten since it slipped away, and its health may have been affected by chilly weather, Parenteau said.
The snake was probably scared by the sounds and smells encountered outdoors and may have spent the past month hiding very close to where it was found, Parenteau said.
A passerby saw it under a balcony on Willibrord St. and covered it with a box before alerting authorities. There’s an alley between Willibrord and 1st Ave., where the python’s owner lives.
At one point in early September, the reptile was spotted between the walls of an apartment building on Willibrord. Then the trail grew cold.
Montrealers will be relieved to hear that Lady was captured, Parenteau said. “It’s weird to say this, but we have grown attached to the snake.”