MEDFORD, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- A 14-foot python was found dead and “curled up in a ball” along a Suffolk County road, state officials said this week as police investigate.
The snake, a reticulated python native to Southeast Asia, was discovered Feb. 14 by police officers from the Department of Environmental Conservation.
The officers found the coiled snake on the side of a road in Medford, officials said. A closer look revealed the reptile was dead.
Snakes coil for a variety of reasons, including to regulate their body temperature and when they are stressed or feel threatened.
The officers removed the animal from the roadway to be disposed of.
In a release Wednesday, the DEC said it is illegal to keep snakes like the reticulated python as pets in New York and that owners must have a dangerous animal license.
An investigation into who owned the snake is ongoing, the department said.
The discovery came around the same time that an alligator was found in Prospect Park Lake in Brooklyn.
The gator was emaciated and suffering from exposure to the cold, according to caretakers at the Bronx Zoo, who believe the critter was kept as a pet, possibly in a bathtub.
The NYPD is investigating, as it’s illegal to keep alligators as pets in the city and also illegal to release animals in parks.
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