Search for escaped 20-foot python continues in the Ozarks

The search continues for a 20-foot pet Burmese python that escaped from its cage last week.

Ben Trexel, the owner, said about a dozen people searched from morning to dusk on Saturday and Sunday around his home near Rogersville, to no avail.

Trexel last saw his brown and tan pet python — named SS Wraps — Thursday, before a branch fell through his roof, allowing for the snake to escape near Cypress Road, on the border between Greene and Christian counties.

Trexel told the News-Leader it was scary to find his python gone. He hopes his snake is found safely without anyone coming to harm.

The Christian County Sheriff's Office chimed in about the missing python on its Facebook page Saturday night, cautioning people not to let their children venture into high grass or densely wooded areas alone.

Captain Jeff Lofton with the Christian County Sheriff's Office told the News-Leader on Monday that emergency dispatch has received several phone calls from parents worried about the python.

Lofton said deputies are not involved with the search effort. He said people should not "necessarily alter their lives and stay in the house," but they should be aware of their surroundings.

Lofton advised people to move to safety and call 911 if they see the python. A deputy or police officer will respond to the call and determine how to proceed from there.

Since Christian County does not have an animal control division, Lofton said, law enforcement would likely reach out to Trexel, the python's owner, for help.

Deputies will sometimes answer calls about dogs or cattle, but not usually a giant python, Lofton said.

"I don't even know what equipment one would use to contain something like that," Lofton said.

The Christian County Sheriff's Office in Kentucky also made a Facebook post about the python lost in the Ozarks.

The social media post noted that people often get the two sheriff's offices confused.

"But we would just like to take this opportunity to thank the good Lord above that this isn't us," the Kentucky law enforcement agency added.

Mike Crocker, zoo director and resident snake expert at the Dickerson Park Zoo, told the News-Leader that the python is probably still close to where it escaped.

Crocker, who has owned Burmese pythons in the past, said this type of snake is native to Southeast Asia and is most active in 80 or 90 degree weather.

It's been cooler in the Ozarks in the past few days, which means the snake is probably feeling "pretty lethargic," according to Crocker.

Crocker said the python could be "potentially dangerous."

"It's a big, powerful constrictor, stronger than you are," Crocker said. "I've seen pet pythons unexpectedly, for unknown reasons, lunge out and grab hold of people."

Crocker said attacks on humans by pythons are not commonplace in the wild.

It's impossible to predict what instinct-driven snakes may do, Crocker said.

"Snakes are a very secretive animal. They like to look for really tight spaces," Crocker said "It might be hidden up underneath somebody's house or trailer, who knows?"

Trexel, the python's owner, said over the weekend he assembled search parties to scour the fields around his residence and to check underneath his neighbors' trailer homes.

There are a few trailers that he still needs to get permission to check, Trexel said.

He said a friend has also set up game cameras to monitor the grounds at night.

He's also set out food and a heat lamp to try to attract the python back to its home of nearly nine years.

Trexel said he feels "a little more sad" every day that he cannot find his python.

"I keep thinking he's dead. I know how cold it's gotten and I just know how bad the coyotes run out here," Trexel said, explaining that there's a pack of coyotes near his home that could potentially pose a threat to the snake.

Trexel said he will continue to look for the python as his work schedule allows, and hopes to borrow a thermal imaging camera to aid in the search.

Trexel said the snake's last meal was two chickens, about a week ago, so it shouldn't be hungry. The python usually eats once or twice a month, Trexel said.

​The python is normally relaxed and tame, Trexel said.

"I've never had him even try to bite me. He's shown no signs of aggression in the nine years I've owned him," Trexel said.

He cautioned anyone who comes across the python not to startle it.

"He means a lot to my family. I don't want anybody harmed and I don't want him harmed," Trexel said. "I don't want him killed, but if someone feels threatened, I understand."

Trexel asks for anyone who comes across a 20-foot python, as thick as a football, to call him at 417-983-4430.