Family discover 8-foot python with swollen stomach living under shed as X-ray exposes its last meal

Most of us are worried enough when we discover a small spider in our homes, but one New Jersey family were shocked to discover one of the largest species of snakes living in their shed.

What's even worse is that the eight-foot Burmese python that Leslie Daley spotted slithering through her backyard would have been more than capable of killing her, if it happened to be in a bad mood.

She was watering some flowers in the garden when she first spotted the massive snake, which while non-venomous, can attack humans and other animals by essentially squeezing them to death, which I suppose is just as bad as being eaten alive by one.

Leslie and her husband Ed then noticed that the snake had gone through a hole into their shed, with contractors quickly called to remove the floorboards so that they could get easier access to the giant snake.

Most worryingly, or perhaps reassuringly, was that the snake had a severely swollen belly, which meant that it was probably pretty full from its last meal so might be less likely to try and eat Leslie or Ed, however there was natural concern about what it might have eaten.

The swollen belly might have even been the snake about to give birth to lots more little snakes if it was pregnant, but it later transpired that it's last meal had been an opossum.

Animal control officers were then able to extract the eight-foot beast from its new and unusual home underneath the shed floorboards, before taking it for an X-ray which revealed that final meal.

Are pythons native to the United States?

Although the snake is indigenous and was a long way from its natural home in Southeast Asia, they have been known to have been kept as pets in some parts of America, and this one either snuck away from its owner or was released into the wild, which is never a good idea.

“Exotic pets do NOT belong in the wild! Releasing them harms local wildlife, domestic pets, and the exotic animal itself,” the Monmouth County SPCA wrote in a social media post.

“If you can no longer care for a reptile, please reach out to a local rescue or shelter instead.”

'They’re no more dangerous than any other animal'

While you might have panicked if you came across a Burmese python, particularly if you had no idea if it was dangerous or not, it seems as if this particular species is generally pretty friendly, according to experts at the Georgia Reptile Society.

They write: "They’re no more dangerous than any other animal. In fact: horses are responsible for the deaths of over 400 people each year. 800,000 people are bitten by dogs so severely that they need to go to the hospital.

"Yet in the last three decades, large constricting snakes (pythons and boas) were responsible for only 0.5 deaths each year.

"Every domesticated animal was once a wild animal. The word domesticated means they’ve been bred to interact well with humans. There have been decades of selective breeding in captivity to achieve the same end with Burmese Pythons."

The python has since been placed in a secure enclosure with an experienced snake handler while officials work to find it a long-term home.