At a Whidbey Island home, a teenager's glance at the gutter turned up something far stranger than ordinary buildup.
According to Whidbey News-Times, Oak Harbor resident Shannon Useman's teenage daughter spotted what appeared to be a ball python on July 31.
Here's what to know
Useman said the alarm began when her daughter reported seeing "the biggest snake head sticking out of the gutter," leaving the family to figure out how to deal with a large exotic reptile in a residential neighborhood.
With the owner still unknown, Useman's husband got the snake under control by guiding it with a fishing net into a garbage can.
The family also turned to local Facebook groups for help, posting, "Thankfully everyone is okay, but it definitely wasn't something we expected to find today."
About 20 minutes later, a neighbor said the python had escaped in late July after getting past bells placed on the walls and beneath furniture.
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One commenter wrote, "Oh come on! I've only been here for six weeks now. Nobody warned me about rats, the amount of roundabouts, the Amazon trucks that come in and out like the tide, and I for sure didn't see any fine print about needing to watch for freakin pythons slithering around and camping out in our gutters!!!"
More background
This was not an encounter with a wild native animal.
Instead, it appears to have been an escaped exotic pet that wound up in an unexpected place, creating stress for both the family who found it and the owner trying to recover it.
It also was not the first time Whidbey residents had come across a wayward ball python.
Whidbey News-Times also reported that, in 2024, an elderly couple on Zylstra Road found a friendly 2-foot ball python in their yard, and it was taken to a pet shelter.
What can be done?
In this case, neighborhood Facebook groups helped quickly reconnect the snake with its owner, limiting the chance that it would be injured or disappear again.
The News-Times reported that people on Whidbey who find a lost dog, cat, or even python can contact Island County Animal Control Officer Tammy Esparza at 360-240-5542.
For Useman, the incident became one of those stories a family is unlikely to forget. "We were honestly shocked because finding a large exotic snake on Whidbey Island is about the last thing you would ever expect," she said.
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