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After being discovered on a trash can in downtown Los Angeles, 20 feet of Python has found a new, eternal home thanks to Riverside’s self-declared “reptile hunters.”
The person who spotted a snake in the parking garage at a downtown clown apartment in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday night first called for help from police and animal control, but Joseph Hart was the one who saved the day.
“I’ve dreamed of the day,” said Hart, a Riverside-based wildlife rehabilitator and reptile enthusiast. “I get a call in the middle of LA. I’m meandering through the Crocodile Dundee here.”
A mobile phone video from the encounter shows Hart jumping into the trash can and gently patting the mesh-like Python backend.
“I realized she wasn’t defensive. She didn’t try to hurt me. She wanted to get away from me, so at that moment I knew I could get her, strangle her, take her to me, and get her out of the trash,” Hart said.
When the apple was removed from the trash can, he realized she had a serious mouth infection. He said it is common in the pet trade and will likely lose some teeth.
Around 18,200 individual illegal reptiles were confiscated between 2015 and 2019, data from the Wildlife Consiscations Network, a conservation initiative specializing in supporting wildlife confiscated from illegal trade. Wildlife trafficking has increased dramatically over the past decade, according to the organization.
The snake was brought to Riverside with Hart for treatment and after months of antibiotics and proper care, he said, was on her way to fully recover.
NBC Los Angeles contacted Los Angeles County Animal Control to see if they were planning an investigation.
According to Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the reticulated python is one of the longest snake species in the world. They are native to Southeast Asia.
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