There has been an intensive police hunt for a two-metre-long python in a natural area in Sollentuna – but to no avail.
The police patrol that was called to the scene only got hold of the skin that the snake left behind.
– The patrol searched for a very long time, says the municipal police in Sollentuna to Mitt i Stockholm
A two-meter-long python snakes its way around a natural area in Sollentuna, north of Stockholm.
It was passers-by who saw the snake and alerted the police, who rushed to the scene to capture the reptile.
Witnesses were able to follow the snake via a winding escape route over logs and rocks up a tree. But the tracks ended suddenly at hollows and cracks next to a mountain edge.
The police were unable to find the snake, which is still at large, but were able to recover a snake skin that the snake had left behind.
– The police patrol searched for a very long time, it started to get dark and they had to shine with flashlights. In the end they had to leave, says Kristian Bergström, municipal police in Sollentuna In the middle of Stockholm.
Contacted Skansenakvariet
The police contacted Skansenakvariet for advice. With the help of pictures, it could be established that it was a non-poisonous python.
– The snake had probably been frightened by all the attention. They are certainly shy animals, says Kristian Bergström to the newspaper.
The snake thus posed no danger to the public, according to the police.
Skansen-Jonas: “Can be bitten”
Jonas Wahlström, animal expert and director of the Skansen aquarium, tells Mitt i that pythons are not poisonous but that they can be bitten.
The snake has probably been abandoned by its owner who no longer wanted to keep it, believes Jonas Wahlström.
He adds that a tropical snake doesn’t have much chance of surviving outdoors in our cold climate.
A fully grown python can be 3-4 meters long.