Huge Burmese python found near Waukegan beach
BY DAN MORAN dmoran@stmedianetwork.com September 17, 2012 6:48PM
A Waukegan Animal Control officer handles a 12-15 foot Burmese python that was found at Sea Horse Drive and Clayton Street on Monday morning. | Special to Sun-Times Media
Updated: September 18, 2012 8:35AM
A lakefront landscaper in Waukegan got more than he signed up for Monday when he made an unexpected discovery: a 12- to 15-foot Burmese python.
The pale-yellow, possibly albino snake, was spotted around 10 a.m. near Sea Horse Drive and Clayton Street — across from Waukegan Municipal Beach — by a man trimming bushes.
The snake was likely dumped in the area, said Waukegan Police Lt. Edward Fitzgerald of the Waukegan Police Department.
“There’s obviously no residences down there, so it probably didn’t crawl away from someone,” he said.
Animal control officers nabbed it without incident.
“It was a little lethargic, because it’s been cold out and they’re cold-blooded. It wasn’t aggressive at all,” said Fitzgerald, though he added that the snake “kind of livened up a little bit” after a trip inside a van to the Wildlife Discovery Center in Lake Forest.
Fitzgerald said officials at the Discovery Center reported that the snake needed treatment for an unspecified illness but was otherwise in good shape.
