Ball Python Found, Killed In Backyard Of Walton County Home

SOCIAL CIRCLE, GA — If your bingo card for 2020 included “pythons in your backyard,” you can check that one off your list.

A Social Circle homeowner who killed a 4-foot long snake in his backyard last week was surprised to learn from the University of Georgia’s Extension Office that he’d nailed a ball python.

“It was an odd-looking snake when we got it,” said Joe Burnsed of Georgia’s Walton County Extension Office to The Athens Banner-Herald. “It was very large in girth.”

Burnsed used photos to identify the snake as a ball python, an African snake commonly sold as a pet and considered docile. The Social Circle office of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources confirmed the identification.

According to DNR Urban Wildlife Program Manager Kaitlin Goode, when snakes like this are found loose, they’ve either escaped or been released intentionally by their owners.

While snakes like this are already thriving in south Florida, Goode wasn’t sure they sure they could survive as far north as Georgia.

Still, she advised, don’t just release them into the local environment.

“Releasing exotic pets, like pythons, can have serious negative effects on the natural environment,” the Georgia DNR posted to its Facebook page.

“If you can’t keep them for whatever reason, do your best to rehome it,” Goode said to The Athens Banner-Herald. “There are plenty of animal-rescue units out there that can help.”

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