15-foot python captured under truck hood after roaming Texas neighborhood

A 15-foot yellow python weighing 85 pounds terrorized a neighborhood in Texas and trapped a man on top of his truck before it was captured by animal control after nestling under the hood of a parked vehicle.

Garland Animal Control officer Alejandro Jaramillo responded to a call for the slithery amphibian around 11 p.m. Saturday. According to a social media post from the city, the python was circulating a neighborhood.

“They just told me that it was gonna be a snake. I did not know that when I would arrive, it would be a 15-foot python,” Jaramillo said.

Jaramillo’s snake prongs, he said, were of no use.

“Normally, we use these to grab the head of the snake so you can control it. Obviously, its head was too big to be controlled by this and it was too strong,” Jaramillo said.

Instead, Jaramillo had to use a net and a catch pole. Still, the snake continued to slither away.

“It turned around when I pulled its tail and tried to lunge at me,” Jaramillo recalled. “From there, it slithered underneath his truck and then went up into his engine bay to where I had to attempt to pull it out or lure it out.”

Nick Garza lives next door.

“It was crazy,” Garza said. “It was huge … it was like a snake you see at the zoo, you know?”

Experts determined the snake was likely someone’s pet based on its size and color.

“A 15-foot python doesn't happen naturally. It has to have been fed in good condition and stuff like that. So that's how we kind of knew,” said Alberto Maldonado, the community outreach coordinator for the Garland Animal Shelter. “And on top of that, it was banana colored. So, that is another indication that a lot of people have like a pet (snake).”

Within six hours of its safe capture, Maldonado said numerous people volunteered to foster the python.

“It’s being taken care of,” Maldonado said. “In the city of Garland, regardless of the size of the animal or the shape or what kind of animal it is, we're always going to be there to provide our services for them.”

On Tuesday morning, Maldonado was notified that the owner of the python had come forward.

“The owner of the Python was actually moving addresses. He's moving out of the city limits. And in the meantime, he decided to put up the snake enclosure and put the python in a temporary case for it to be living for a little while,” Maldonado said.

The snake, however, made its way out. The snake was found near Apache and Broadway in South Garland.

“It didn't get very far at all, if anything. It just had to cross one major road, and it was there. So, I'd say about maybe like 400 yards, if that.”

Maldonado said the owner will not face any citations.

“Just like how we don't get you in trouble for your dog running out at large, it's the same thing. It's a pet. It was an isolated incident,” Maldonado said. “It was an accident, and he came forward, gave us all the paperwork and documentation to prove that it was his.”

The owner will only have to pay a standard impound fee before being reunited with their pet.