Python found near Montague sewage treatment plant

MONTAGUE, Mass. (AP) - Montague's sewage treatment plant has been visited by an unusual guest.

An employee on Thursday found a three-foot long ball python on the ground near an outside tank at the western Massachusetts facility.

Employee Tina Tyler tells The Recorder of Greenfield she thinks the snake was seeking warmth.

Workers caught the snake, put it in a trash barrel, then called police.

Police directed them to Black Jungle Terrarium Supply, a Turners Falls shop that deals in reptiles.

Black Jungle co-owner Richard Revis says non-venomous ball pythons are popular pets due to their relatively small size and docility. He thinks it was released by an owner who no longer wanted it.

Revis says the snakes are native to Africa and releasing them in New England is a death sentence.