Baltimore’s Gwynns Falls Park is known for its sprawling hiking and biking trails. The park also features a dense forest, beautiful rocky streams, and diverse wildlife.
Although when the Maryland Department of Natural Resources boasts about all of the creatures that live in the park, they likely didn’t mean the 14-foot python that was recently pulled from the river there. Don’t worry, if you suffer from ophidiophobia (a fear of snakes), the massive reptile isn’t doing much slithering these days.
That’s because the snake in question was deceased when it was found by Instagram’s trash_wheel_doctor, the account that documents all of the odd things that the city’s massive trash wheels remove from the local waterway. But the state of the snake seemed to raise more questions, since so many people online are curious about how exactly it got into the water.
Not only that, but they want to know how a snake that isn’t native to the region ended up in Baltimore in the first place. While we may not ever know the truth, there are a few theories about how it all went down.
The 14-Foot Snake Was Found in the Gwynns Falls River
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According to the Instagram account, the snake was pulled out of the water by one of the city’s trash wheels. The wheels are used to remove trash from the river. And while most of the trash appears to be the typical debris you expect to see (although the account runner did joke about how they always find “crocs” in the water before panning to a picture of the famous shoe), it doesn’t seem like anyone expected the massive snake.
According to the Instagram profile, the account is run by Cy Appleby-Kellett. “I think this thing was in the river for a hot minute,” Appleby-Kellett said as they tried to untangle the snake from the rest of the trash.
“I don’t know if it died first or it died later,” he continued. “But it washed down the river, and the guys here at Wheelabrator left it for me. That’s not AI. It doesn’t smell like AI either.”
Appleby-Kellett Called It a Reticulated Python
The snake was identified as a reticulated python, which is the longest snake in the world, according to Britannica. The largest of the species could reach a shocking 32.8 feet in length.
Reticulated pythons are native to the tropical forests of places like Indonesia, the Philippines, and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. While Britannica says the snakes are known for moving through all types of environments (including swimming in rivers), you wouldn’t typically expect to see them in Baltimore, where winters can drop below freezing.
People Shared Theories About How the Snake Got There
It seems Appleby-Kellett had his own thoughts about how the snake ended up in the river, saying it was “pretty sad, really,” since he believed the animal was likely someone’s pet and that the owner had underestimated how big it would get.
“Aw, poor baby,” another person wrote. “Gorgeous snake. I hate people who dump their pets when they get too big. Research needs to be done before buying/taking any pet. They failed this poor snake.”
Then there were those who were afraid that this was a sign of the times, with one person writing, “Last thing we need is those getting comfortable with these rising temps.”
For now, it seems like this snake was just a one-off find, and not a sign that the animals are moving into the region.