5 pythons found in a month near Amherst Delta Sonic

Sep 06, 2023

Veterinary technician Sara Drumstra displays a ball python found outside a Delta Sonic at 3100 Niagara Falls Boulevard in Amherst, now safe at SPCA in West Seneca, August 21, 2023. This python was found on August 14, and a second ball python days later on August 18.

What’s stranger than finding a ball python behind a car wash?

Finding another one in just about the same spot four days later.

The back-to-back serpentine encounters remain a mystery to Amherst police and to the SPCA Serving Erie County, which publicized them last week.

But the unusual events go back further.

In fact, three other ball pythons – two dead and one living – previously turned up at or near this Delta Sonic at Niagara Falls Boulevard and East Robinson Road, Gina Lattuca, an SPCA spokeswoman, said for the first time Monday.

This makes five pythons in a month.

Veterinary technician Sara Drumstra displays a ball python found outside a Delta Sonic at 3100 Niagara Falls Boulevard in Amherst and now safe at the SPCA in West Seneca on Monday.

SPCA officials have developed a number of theories to try to explain this odd chain of events but, so far, say they don’t know exactly why the snakes ended up where they did.

“The situation is probably as unique as the snakes themselves,” said Lattuca, adding she can’t recall this happening before in her 33 years with the agency.

The two most recently discovered ball pythons are staying at the SPCA in West Seneca for now as the agency figures out what to do with them if no one claims them, Lattuca said. Ball pythons are considered good starter pets for would-be snake owners, but they can cost thousands of dollars to purchase.

Amherst police responded to the two latest python sightings at the Delta Sonic at 3100 Niagara Falls Blvd.

The first came from a Delta Sonic employee at about 8:10 p.m. on Aug. 14, Amherst Police Capt. Kevin Brown said.

Animal Control Officer Cyndi Griffin and other officers found the snake curled up next to a hose in an outdoor area of the car wash and gas station complex.

Photos posted to the Amherst Police Department’s Facebook page show Griffin holding the snake with one hand and, later, the snake sitting in a cardboard box.

Animal control took the snake to the SPCA in West Seneca the next morning.

An assistant veterinarian gave the ball python – so named because of their tendency to curl into tight balls – a soak in warm water, the SPCA reported on its Facebook page. This encouraged the snake to uncurl – allowing staff to fully examine it – rehydrated the animal and raised its temperature.

“So there you have it – a snake spa adventure like no other at the SPCA!” the agency wrote in its post.

Veterinary technician Sara Drumstra displays a ball python found outside a Delta Sonic at 3100 Niagara Falls Boulevard in Amherst, now safe at SPCA in West Seneca, August 21, 2023. The first python was found on August 14, and this one was found on August 18. (Libby March/Buffalo News)

A Delta Sonic worker reported the second snake, found in an outdoor PVC pipe at the business, at 9:10 a.m. Friday, Brown said.

This time, SPCA officers also responded and took the pastel clown ball python back to West Seneca with them.

SPCA officials are not releasing details on the size, age or gender of the snakes, in case an owner comes to claim them.

The first snake that came in has what is known as piebald coloring, with patches of white skin mixed in with its blotchy brown pattern. The second snake is yellow, brown and black throughout.

Ball pythons are non-venomous, average 4 to 5 feet in length and can live for up to 30 years, according to the Petco website. They feed on thawed, frozen rodents.

“The scales on both snakes seem to be in good shape,” Lattuca said. “Neither of them seemed incredibly malnourished.”

That is why the SPCA has concluded the snakes likely were pets.

Veterinary technician Sara Drumstra displays a ball python found outside a Delta Sonic at 3100 Niagara Falls Boulevard in Amherst, now safe at SPCA in West Seneca, August 21, 2023. This python was found on August 14, and a second ball python days later on August 18. (Libby March/Buffalo News)

In the course of digging up some additional information on the latest ball pythons for The Buffalo News, Lattuca learned from an SPCA animal officer about the earlier sightings.

The first, a deceased spider ball python, was found at the car wash sometime in the last week of July, she said.

The second, also deceased, was a piebald python found about a week later on the bike path that runs behind the car wash. The third, another piebald, was also found on the bike path. This snake was alive, Lattuca said, and the person who found it kept it and is trying to find its owner.

Lattuca said one working theory is the snakes’ owner, or owners, tired of caring for them.

But a ball python can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, so it is not clear why an owner would discard them instead of trying to sell them, she said.

The value depends on whether the snake has the recessive trait, or morph, leading to the partial lack of pigmentation found in piebald pythons that can be passed along in breeding.

Ball pythons are strong enough to escape from an enclosure, Lattuca said, but it is likely that the owner of such valuable snakes would keep them in a secure enclosure.

Veterinary technician Sara Drumstra displays a ball python found outside a Delta Sonic at 3100 Niagara Falls Boulevard in Amherst, now safe at SPCA in West Seneca, August 21, 2023. This python was found on August 14, and a second ball python days later on August 18. (Libby March/Buffalo News)

Amherst police turned the investigation over to the SPCA. Abandoning a pet can lead to an animal cruelty charge in New York, depending on the circumstances, Lattuca said.

The SPCA asks anyone who has information about the snakes to contact its Animal Cruelty Investigations Department at (716) 875-7360, ext. 214.

After taking in a stray, the SPCA holds the animal for five days to see if an owner claims the pet.

Once that period runs out, an animal could be offered for general adoption. But Lattuca said she’s not sure this is a good fit for the snakes because the agency doesn’t want to see someone buy them either to breed them or resell them for a profit.

The SPCA may place them with an established snake owner or even with the Buffalo Zoo, she said.

“These are exceptional animals that require exceptional care,” Lattuca said.

As for Amherst police, would Brown be surprised if his department got a call about another snake at the Delta Sonic?

“In this job, anything can happen,” he said. “So who knows?”

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