By RHONDOR DOWLAT Tuesday, November 10 2009

POLICE OFFICERS from Belmont Police Station who responded to a trouble call at Hutton Road in St Ann’s, during the early morning hours yesterday, came face to face not with bandits but a ten-foot long Albino python which was slithering in the yard of a resident’s home.

Police theorise that the animal was someone’s pet and either may have escaped from its cage or was abandoned by its owner as it grew too big to manage.

According to Wikipedia, there are 47 species of snakes in Trinidad and Tobago – 44 in Trinidad and 21 in Tobago. Many of these species are South American in origin most of which are present in Venezuela.

The python is not a native species to Trinidad and Tobago and the one rescued is believed to be a Burmese albino python, one of the largest snakes in the world.

According to a police report, at about 1 am a party of officers including Insp Balram, Sgt Brendon John, Cpls Mason, Ramsook and WPC Alexander went to a house at Hutton Road where they found the wounded reptile. Police said it appeared as though the snake was shot near its head with the bullet exiting the animal’s body.

The snake was placed in a crocus bag and taken to the Belmont Police Station. Shortly after midday yesterday, game wardens of the Forestry Division of the Ministry of Agriculture Nicholas Leith and Kevin Goolcharan collected the snake and took it to the Emperor Valley Zoo where it was medically treated by the zoo’s veterinarian. Sources said the Zoo may very well adopt the snake.