Maine woman finds 8-foot snake in her washer

[Tricia Lea]

GORHAM, Maine - A woman got the shock of her life when she found an 8-foot snake mixed in with clothes in her washing machine. The snake, identified as a reticulated python, somehow got into the water pipes of Mara Ranger's 1800s-era farmhouse and slithered into the machine.

After Ranger took her blue jeans out of the machine Wednesday, she reached back into the load and felt something move.

"I jumped back and all of sudden its head starts coming out of the washing machine and it looked huge," Ranger told WMTW-TV.

Ranger quickly closed the lid and called police and an animal control officer, but they didn't want anything to do with the serpent.

When Richard Burton, who operates Maine Animal Damage Control in Lewiston, arrived at Ranger's house, he could barely believe his eyes.

An 8-foot snake
Burton reached into the machine wearing a pair of welding gloves, expecting to come out with a 4-foot snake. But when he pulled the animal out, it kept coming and coming — all 8 feet of it.

Once out of the machine, the angry snake wrapped itself around Burton's hand, cutting off the blood flow. Burton then wrestled the scaly reptile into a plastic bag, tied it shut and brought it to Lewiston.

That's where Jen Lewis, a wildlife rehabilitator who works at the Kennel Shop, identified it as a python. The snakes kill prey with their teeth but are not poisonous, she said.

Lewis and Lewiston's animal control officer planned to find the snake a home at a wildlife refuge.

But how the snake ended up in the washing machine remains a mystery. Burton guessed it was somebody's pet and that the owner ended up tossing it out into the wild when it got too big. It then made its way through the water pipes and into the washing machine, probably after the load was done, he said.

In the meantime, Ranger said she's a little paranoid.

"Now that it's gone, I'm going to be checking crevices and corners," Ranger said. "I'm going to be looking in the tub first — before and after, maybe even during, the rinse cycle."


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[Sis]

I was in shock that Maine would have snakes that big, but pythons aren't native to that area. I hate it when people get exotic reptiles as pets, then when they grow up or move, they just let them loose. They could at least give them to a humane shelter or something like that.

I would totally freak if I found a snake in my washer. I wouldn't want to wash clothes for a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time if I found something like that.  *Shiver*

[Chseeads]

That's just too weird.  

[MelodyB]

I saw that too!! Yall know that is near where Giggles used to live?

[myhaloisintheshop]

 

I just found an excuse to not do laundry!

[SippinTea]

*shudders*

[Sis]

I still can't go to the bathroom at night without the light on to check, since someone nearby found a snake in their potty. *Shiver*

[Tricia Lea]

I just found an excuse to not do laundry!

me too

[NessasMama]

I was eating supper when it came on the news tonite. EWWWWWWWWW..........

Whoever owns that snake isn't supposed to have it here in Maine. It's illegal to have certain types of snakes here and that is one of them. THANK GOD for that!!!!!

[almondjoy]

*shudders*

* almondjoy is thankful hubby's been doing the laundry lately.

[Sis]

I was eating supper when it came on the news tonite. EWWWWWWWWW..........

Whoever owns that snake isn't supposed to have it here in Maine. It's illegal to have certain types of snakes here and that is one of them. THANK GOD for that!!!!!

Maybe it traveled up from New York!   

[EricShane]

 

[MelodyB]

Or perhaps from Ohio.....Eric? Something you wanna say?

[yosemite]

Im glad it wasnt me! There would have been some more dirty clothes needing to be washed. 

[Mrs. Yosemite]

if ya'll have anything like a hamster or guinea pig.. any kind of small pet like that. You will be most likely to get a snake in your house.  I came in one evening from work and went over to feed my hamster. And their was a snake inside the hamster cage that had slithered in there some way and couldnt get back out after swallowing my hamster. I loved that hamster. 

[EricShane]

Or perhaps from Ohio.....Eric? Something you wanna say?

That is SO not funny (lol jk! yes it was!) --- just because it has something to do with a Snake does not mean, I was involved... hahah

[Sis]

   Everybody hates me, nobody loves me, I think I'll eat crayonssssssss 

[yosemite]

I was eating supper when it came on the news tonite. EWWWWWWWWW..........

Whoever owns that snake isn't supposed to have it here in Maine. It's illegal to have certain types of snakes here and that is one of them. THANK GOD for that!!!!!

Maybe it traveled up from New York!   

nahhh!  it slithered up from the white house or the capital building. was it wearing fancy suits?

[Sis]

They DO kinda squeeze you, don't they? 

[MelodyB]

Or perhaps from Ohio.....Eric? Something you wanna say?

That is SO not funny (lol jk! yes it was!) --- just because it has something to do with a Snake does not mean, I was involved... hahah

You know you dared me to post that!

[EricShane]

Or perhaps from Ohio.....Eric? Something you wanna say?

That is SO not funny (lol jk! yes it was!) --- just because it has something to do with a Snake does not mean, I was involved... hahah

You know you dared me to post that!

[iridiscente]

*shudders*

* almondjoy is thankful hubby's been doing the laundry lately.

That's SO NICE! I love it when my husband helps with that!