Snakes alive! Search for python near Division Street

YOUNGSTOWN

Wildlife trapper Dave Nelson went in search of a large snake Monday that residents in the Division Street neighborhood claimed they’d seen.

Nelson, who works for the Mahoning County Dog Warden’s office, searched the area for more than an hour, but did not find the snake that he said could be up to eight feet long.

“It appears that there is one of a pretty good size, and then there are some smaller ones,” Nelson said.

After Nelson spoke to some of residents, there was concern for public safety because some of them claimed they heard a rattle come from the snake.

He explained that rattlesnakes did not get as large as this snake appears to be. A picture one of the residents took shows a snake with brown, black and tan stripes.

“It looks like a python,” he said.

Nelson followed the snake’s path and used other physical evidence to determine how large the snake is and where it went.

He believes it could have gone into a vacant structure on the street.

Typically, Nelson said, snake owners will realize the snake’s environment is too small, and the snake easily becomes agitated in the higher temperatures, so the owner will release the snake.

Nelson plans to go back to catch the snake, and what could be its babies.

His advice to homeowners: “Keep your grass cut down and seal any holes.”