10-foot, 80-pound python caught in Pikesville man's backyard

    CATONSVILLE, Maryland (WBAL) -- This is a big snake.

Ihab Sahal is the branch manager of "All Star Pest Management" in Catonsville.

Just before 1 p.m. Tuesday, he said they got a call from a man in Pikesville who saw a 10-foot python in his backyard.

"I drop everything, get there in about 30 minutes," Sahal said. "We get to the customer's house. I told him to keep an eye on it. He keeps an eye on it. He keeps an eye on the thing the whole time. We get there and it's coiled up under a tree."

The snake is a Burmese Python, according to a man known as the Maryland Snake Man. It's native to Southeast Asia, and is not venomous.

The Maryland Snake Man said the python can be a calm pet if it is raised in captivity. He believes the snake is an escaped or released pet because of "how healthy he looks".

Sahal and his co-worker quickly jumped into action.

"First thing is safety. We got our gloves on," Sahal said. "We figured it was going to be somebody's pet, so we gauged how aggressive it was going to be. It started a little bit of hissing when we got close. So one guy distracted it from one end and the other went behind and grabbed it by the head."

Handling the slithery creature was an experience for Sahal.

"Just moving it, they are pure muscle. So moving something like that, it's crazy just to feel the strength of it," Sahal said.

Once they got control of it, they had to find a place to put it.

"A giant ice chest — that is what it went inside. I put a bunch of bungees so I wasn't driving down the highway with a 10-foot snake in the back of my truck just loose," Sahal said.

Sahal said Howard County Animal Control agreed to take the snake.

It's the first time he's dealt with something like this, but he wasn't too rattled.

"It was a blast, I enjoyed it. And if I got another call, I'd be there," he said.