Police are searching for a slippery character following reports that a nine-foot reticulated python is on the loose.
Cambridgeshire Police are looking for the snake after it was spotted on Lovell Road in Cambridge.
Police officers said on Twitter on Sunday that they had tracked down the reptile’s owner but not the snake.
Cambridgeshire Police tweeted: “In the early hours of this morning, officers attended the area of Lovell Rd Cambridge.
“Reports of a three metre snake seen in the area. Police have located the owner but not the reticulated python confirmed to be 9ft long. Any sighting, please notify Cambs Police on 101.”
Reticulated pythons are the world’s longest snake, native to south-east Asia and can grow up to 31.5 feet. They are not venomous – instead choosing to squeeze their prey to death.
However, a fully grown reticulated python can open its jaw wide enough to swallow a human, although shoulders can pose a problem.
The reticulated python is native to south and southeast Asia and, like all pythons, is non-venomous - instead squeezing its prey to death.
Although attacks on humans are uncommon there have reported cases of the reticulated python eating humans.
In June last year, the body of a 54-year-old Indonesian woman was found completely intact inside a 23-foot python.
This snake on the loose is not the first time Cambridgeshire Police has faced a slippery character.
In May this year, the force tweeted after finding a large orange and black striped corn snake while they were out and about.
They said on Twitter: “Road policing officers got a bit of a shock this morning when they came across thissss snake in the grass on Arbury Road in Cambridge.”
That snake was taken to a wildlife centre in Stretham.