11-foot anaconda at large after escape from Tallahassee home. It's the snake's 2nd escape
The snake was called "aggressive" by its owner, reports show.
Christopher CannCall it the great escape, part two: A Tallahassee man's 11-foot yellow anaconda escaped from his mother's house in early July, leading to charges and a search for the snake.
The anaconda — a prohibited non-native species called "aggressive" by its owner — gnawed a hole through the screened-in porch on Salamanca Court, just off Old St. Augustine Road, on the evening of July 9, court records show.
This isn't the first time the snake has gone on the lam: It also slithered free four years ago.
The owner's mother reported the most recent escape of her son's anaconda, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) incident report.
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The report said the snake was typically kept inside an enclosure with a glass sliding door that was able to lock. But on July 9, the owner opened the enclosure and allowed the snake to roam inside the screened-in porch.
The owner said he soon fell asleep and forgot to put the snake, one of the largest species in the world, back in its cage. When he woke up the next morning, "he discovered that it had escaped," the report said.
The owner told investigators that the snake, native to South America, may have been microchipped but he did not know its tag number.
The investigator told the owner to continue looking for the snake and contacted the FWC's Non-Native Fish and Wildlife Program.
On Wednesday, FWC spokesperson Bekah Nelson told the Tallahassee Democrat that the agency's Captive Wildlife staff are still trying to locate the reptile.
Its owner now stands charged with two misdemeanors: Possessing an animal not native to Florida and possession of a live anaconda without a permit.
A request for comment left with the owner's mother remains pending. In October 2017, the FWC issued the owner two written warnings because the same snake escaped before being returned by the Leon County Sheriff's Office.
A video obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat shows Detective Emily Shaw grabbing the 9-foot snake by its tail and carefully dragging it across the grass and into a duffle bag as a man recording the video says, "You are crazy, girl."
At the time, yellow anacondas were not classified as prohibited non-native species and no permit was required for possession, records show.
Contact Christopher Cann at ccann@tallahassee.com and follow @ChrisCannFL on Twitter.
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