FIREFIGHTERS CAPTURE BIG SNAKE—An albino Burmese python escaped from its owner and enjoyed freedom for five days before being captured by firefighters outside a condominium in Thousand Oaks. Fire department Capt. Derek Van- Camp displays the 8½-foot, 50- pound snake at the fire station by standing on the back of a truck. The reptile was returned to its owner, a biology teacher who lives in the condominium complex where it was found. The snake was outdoors against the building under a bush when firefighters arrived. The snake appears to have a bump, suggesting it may have been digesting dinner. Pythons eat live animals. Photo provided by Ventura County Fire Department Firefighters rescue more than cats stuck in trees.

An 8½-foot, 50-pound albino Burmese python that escaped from its owner last month was caught by Ventura County firefighters.

Dispatched to a condominium complex on Green Lea Place near Moorpark Road on Aug. 25, the firefighters thought they were responding to a routine snake call. But when they arrived, about a dozen people were pointing at the giant snake under some bushes next to the building, said Ventura County Fire Department Capt. Derek VanCamp.

“We get snake calls almost every day. Usually they’re gopher snakes or rattlesnakes,” he said.

Three firefighters were needed to pull the powerful snake from its not-so-clever hiding place.

“The firefighters weren’t scared of that huge snake,” said VCFD Capt. Ron Oatman said.

Firefighter Kyle Arledge held it in his lap in the firetruck as they drove back to the station.

“That snake constricts. It was big enough to swallow a fullgrown man and could easily strangle and eat a 10- or 11-yearold child,” VanCamp said.

Why it was roaming free wasn’t known until after a media report alerted its owner to call Fire Station No. 30 and claim his pet. A man who said he was a biology teacher identified the snake by describing its unique characteristics, said VanCamp.

Before being returned to its owner, the snake had been kept at the Ojai Raptor Center, a nonprofit corporation licensed by California State Fish and Game that rehabilitates orphaned animals.

“(The snake’s owner) said it had broken out of its locked cage and escaped. He thought it was gone for good and didn’t report it missing,” VanCamp said.

No photos were taped to telephone poles with images of the gigantic red-eyed snake and a phone number.

The snake’s owner, who usually keeps the snake in his classroom at school, had it home for the summer, VanCamp said.

After rescuing it, the firefighters kept the snake overnight in a makeshift cage. It drank a gallon of water but wasn’t fed, VanCamp said.

When it would constrict on a firefighter it took muscle to release it, VanCamp said.

Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Detective Erik Buschow said police would call animal control if officers came upon a wild animal, such as a huge python that could pose a threat to residents. “When someone owns a pet like that, I feel they have an obligation to let people know when it gets loose,” he said.

“When there’s a threat to health and safety, animal control should be called. Animal control has the authority to impound it,” said assistant city attorney Charmaine Jackson. Owners of large wild animals need a permit from the city manager’s office, she said.

At first it was unclear if the city requires a permit for a Burmese python, said Denise Rosen, Agoura Animal Shelter manager.

“We have a first here. There are no Thousand Oaks laws that say you can’t have a Burmese python. They are sold in pet stores, not a protected species and not poisonous,” said Mary Lech, assistant analyst in the city manager’s office.

Rosen echoed Lech.

The snakes are sold in pet stores, and the California Department of Fish and Game doesn’t require a permit, Rosen said.

“We’ve never had a big snake loose in Thousand Oaks before,” Rosen said. She said she understands that accidents happen with pets—usually a gate is left open when a dog gets out.

In this case, other people’s pets could have been in danger if the snake had found its way to a yard where cats and dogs were living, Rosen said.

A photo of the snake revealed a bump in its sleek body, suggesting it had found dinner and was digesting it.

Dinner could have been one of the many wild creatures in the city.

Anyone who sees animals wandering or hiding in a bush, can call animal control day or night at (818) 991-0071.