Reader Reports Childhood Encounter With A Giant Snake

The growing population of Burmese pythons in the Everglades of Florida has become a well-known issue to the general public. While other invasives, such as the Argentine tegu, the zebra mussel and the piranha-like pacu are all causing problems for native wildlife and eco-systems, nothing seems to grab a hold of the imagination of the public quite like the thought of a mammoth snake slithering about the swamps and marshes of the American South.

I’ve long feared that the issues with which Florida is currently dealing in regards to invasive snakes could become a problem for us in Texas. I did a post a while back in which I compared the annual precipitation amounts and average temperatures of the Everglades to those in SE Texas and found them similar enough to think that Burmese pythons, and other exotic reptiles, would do just fine here as well. You can read that post here.

While this “invasion” of large exotic snakes has not taken place yet, there have been a few stories that have made their way in to me. You can hit the “giant snakes” tag in the right-hand margin to read about a couple of them. Recently, another account came in via email from a reader detailing an experience he had with a giant snake as a child. As you can imagine, I cannot absolutely verify that the story he tells is true but I can tell you that this reader provided his full name and sent the story in via an email. Most people who provide accounts of this nature simply send them in anonymously in the form of a comment to an existing post making communication after the fact impossible. That is not the case here, so make of all of that what you will. I am withholding the name of the reader of my own volition. He has not asked me to do so.

His account follows:

"A True Giant Snake Story

Two young children, a boy 7 and a his older sister, 8, lived occasionally with their adopted “Grandparents” who lived in a wooded area on Taylor Lake near Seabrook, Texas. Their home, well out in the country off a gravel road in those days, the boy and his sister would dismount from the school bus and walk just a little over a quarter of a mile up a one lane oyster shell road leading to the little farm house overlooking the lake.

On one particular day, the two children decided to walk through the edge of the woods adjoining the shell road. They were approximately 30 feet or so from left side the road when they approached a downed tree in their path. It was then that they saw something that chilled their blood. They never saw the snake’s head for it had already crossed the length of the rather large fallen oak tree; but they saw the body, as big around as a man’s arm—or more—as it slithered along, and, looking to the shell road as a way of putting distance between them and the snake, the children saw the tip of the tail of the giant snake as it crossed the shell road quite a distance away, disappearing into the grass beside the road.

As fast as their little legs could carry them, they raced along the shell road to the farmhouse where their “Grandma” and “Grandpa” were sitting on the front veranda facing the lake—shelling purple hull peas. The children yelled at the old couple to “get the gun—we’ve just seen the biggest snake you ever saw. It must be 40 feet long or more.”

The old couple smiled knowingly at each other and told the children to go out and play in the back yard. Even the children’s parents, who happened to be there at the time, dismissed the report as childish imagination. It just could not be true—there could never be such a snake around Taylor Lake, or in Texas for that matter—or maybe in the whole world.

But the children knew it was true and not an exaggeration. For many years, as they grew into their seventies, they sometimes would look into each others eyes and ask, “Do you remember that snake?” The two are still alive today: my sister lives in Dallas—and I live in Houston only 28 miles from where we saw “the snake” sometime around 1947 or 1948. We could never convince even our closest family members and friends of what we saw that day.

We have thought about it for many, many years and concluded that, perhaps, a large Python or Anaconda must have escaped from the Houston zoo; or somehow an Anaconda from South America had made its way north. The following is a cut from an article I recently found on the internet:

“There are some historical reports of early European explorers of the South American jungles seeing giant anacondas up to 100 feet long and some of the native peoples of the South American jungle have reported seeing anacondas up to 50 feet long.”

This story is true and my sister and I will go to our graves declaring it to be so.

XXXX XXXXX
Houston, Texas"

I suppose it is possible that this gentleman might be overestimating the overall length of the snake. Places and things we remember from our childhood often seem smaller than they did when we were little. Even if this is true, however, this still must have been a really big snake. Even if this gentleman has overestimated the length of the snake by fifty percent, that still leaves us with a serpent that is 20-feet or more in length. There is no snake native to North America that large. There are actually only a handful of snakes found anywhere in the world that approach 20-feet in length. The reader, himself, mentions two of them in his email: the anaconda and the python (several species of python can approach, or surpass, 20-feet in length). That being the case, we are almost assuredly dealing with an invasive animal. How in the world did it get to Seabrook, Texas? The date of the sighting, 1947 or 1948, predates the exotic pet trade that is causing so many problems today. Another possibility that crossed my mind is that it might have been a true “sea serpent” of some kind. Seabrook does, after all, sit right on Galveston Bay, which in turn, opens up to the Gulf of Mexico. This is an unlikely scenario to be sure, but you never know.

One other thought crossed my mind as well. What if this reader has not overestimated the length of the snake he saw at all? That is the stuff of which nightmares are made.

If anyone out there reading this has had a similar experience to that of this reader, please email it in to me. I would love to hear about it. It may also help me gauge whether or not we are seeing an increase in invasive species of snake in the Lone Star State.

Another Invasive Reptile Threatening Florida

Most people are aware that the state of Florida is battling an invasive species that is threatening to wreck local ecosystems and wipe out populations of native animals. Since these animals are aliens, there are no natural predators to help check their numbers and they threaten to overrun the Sunshine State. Though it fits the bill, I’m not talking about the Burmese python (Python bivittatus) that is causing all sorts of problems in the Everglades and other parts of the state. I’m talking about a different, and less publicized invasive reptile, the tegu.

While there are several types of tegu, the real problem in Florida seems to be the Argentine black and white tegu (Tupinambis merianae). As their name suggests, these lizards are native to the tropical rain forests, savannas and semideserts of east and central South America. In their natural habitats, these lizards fill the same niche that monitor lizards fill in Asia. Tegu are omnivorous, eating a wide variety of plants and animals. In the wild, this would include insects, fruit, birds, eggs and even hard-shelled and bony animals like turtles.

The Argentine black and white tegu is especially prized as a pet. They are strikingly marked and quite beautiful. They are intelligent and many report they actually seek out attention from owners that handle them properly. Unfortunately, as with many other exotic pets, they get to be quite a handful when full grown and expensive to feed and house. A male tegu can reach a length in excess of 4 feet. Females often exceed 3 feet in length. Many owners, either thinking they are being humane by not euthaninzing their pet or who are simply too lazy to seek a new home for their animal, simply release these large reptiles into the wild.

Tessie Offner, a wildlife biologist for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is quoted in a USA Today article as saying , “People buy these cute little lizards at the pet store and then they grow to be too big for an aquarium and they are too expensive to feed and then they just set them free in the preserves.”

Offner has spent the better part of three years tracking down invasive tegus and says their population is growing. “They reproduce rapidly, laying between 25-50 eggs at a time,” she said. With no known predators in the Florida ecosystem, it isn’t hard to imagine the damage these tegus may do in time. “They eat everything from plants to other animals with bones and shells – also, amphibians and birds,” says Offner.

Indeed, the stomach of a black and white tegu is equipped to handle the boniest of prey and even those with hard shells. Marvel Stewart, a volunteer at a Florida horse rescue site near Lithia, said, “We had a gopher turtle preserve on our 1,100 acres and now they are all gone. We see 4-5 (Tegus) per week on our property.” The tegus have grown increasingly bold and even burrowed into the horse enclosures on the property.

As mentioned previously, the whole situation with the black and white tegus mirrors that the Everglades is facing with Burmese pythons. Large, aggressive predators with no natural enemies can wreak havoc on a native ecosystem and should NEVER be released into the wild. I strongly urge any pet owner that finds him or herself in a situation where they can no longer take care of a large exotic animal to contact their local animal control department, zoo or even pet store to explore different options for relocating it. It may seem harmless and more humane to dump a snake or lizard into a forest or swamp when it faces the possibility of being euthanized, but it is not. What the pet owner must consider are the lives of all the native animals that will be affected if their exotic manages to find a mate and breed. Pet owners are usually true lovers of all kinds of animals. That being the case, it isn’t hard to see what is best for the environment and the native species that live there.

Source: USA Today

Record Burmese Python Killed in Florida

Monster snakes in the Everglades are just a myth, right? Not so much.

Yahoo News is reporting details regarding the largest Burmese python ever found in the Florida Everglades. The monster serpent measured 17’ 7” in length and weighed in at a whopping 164.5 lbs. The snake was found in Everglades National Park last May and has been studied intently by officials at the University of Florida ever since.

“This thing is monstrous; it’s about a foot wide,” said Kenneth Krysko of the Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida. “It means these snakes are surviving a long time in the wild, there’s no stopping them, and native wildlife are in trouble.”

Adding to the bad news is that this enormous female was carrying 87 eggs. Florida officials point to this fact as concrete evidence proving how comfortable this invasive species has become in the swamps of Florida.

The Burmese python, as well as other exotic species, was first introduced to Florida via the exotic pet trade roughly 30 years ago. Officials believe that snake gained a foothold in the state when owners released specimens into the wild after they grew too large or too aggressive to keep in a domestic environment. These pet owners likely felt they were being humane when they chose to release these pythons into the wild rather than killing them. Little did they know the havoc this invasive species would soon wreak on the native wildlife of Florida.

Just how many pythons are there in Florida? It’s a good question and the answer is not readily known. What can be said is that, without a doubt, there are far too many and the number continues to grow.

Krysko is quoted as saying, “They were here 25 years ago but in very low numbers and it was difficult to find one…Now you can go out to the Everglades nearly any day of the week and find a Burmese python. We’ve found as many as 14 in a single day.”

Think about that last line for a moment. 14 pythons in a single day? That is scary.

While Florida has become ground zero in the battle against invasive snakes it is by no means alone. Large constrictors are popping up all over the south and Texas is not immune. They are here and the environment in the bottoms, swamps, bayous, and marshes of the southeast portion of the state are ideal for these massive reptiles.

It is likely only a matter of time before we start experiencing problems along the lines of what Florida is seeing.

Burmese Pythons Rapidly Devouring the Mammals of the Everglades

Invasive Burmese pythons have been in the news in a big way this week. I’ve seen stories on at least four different sites and/or newspapers.

The stories mainly center on pythons in the Everglades of Florida. It seems surveys show that the numbers of many small mammals like raccoons, rabbits, and opossums have dropped precipitously in the last few years in areas pythons are known to inhabit. The articles also mention that larger animals like deer, bobcats, and alligators could also be at risk.



You can read several different articles on this issue by hitting the links below:

Science Daily
National Geographic
USA Today

Other news outlets have run the story as well but the links above will get you to articles that are pretty representative of what is being said about the python problem.



I feel it is just a matter of time before we start to see these giant constrictors in other parts of the south. I hope I’m wrong….

…but I don’t think I am.

Giant Python Killed in Florida

It has been a while since I have discussed the threat that invasive species pose to North American ecosystems. In particular, I have a concern regarding the threat posed by large exotic snakes like pythons, boas, and anacondas to the bottom-lands and marshes of the American south. A recent news story brought my attention back to the issue just this week.

The Huffington Post is reporting that Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission officials captured and killed a 16-foot long Burmese python in the Everglades that had just devoured an adult deer. The deer is estimated to have weighed 75 lbs. You can read the story and see some pretty amazing photos of this snake at the link above. The giant serpent weighed in at a whopping 215.4 pounds with the deer in its belly and 139.1 pounds without it. The snake’s stomach had stretched out to an astounding 44.1-inches to accommodate the deer carcass.



Scott Hardin, the exotic species coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, is reported to have said that workers found the snake last Thursday and it has turned out to be one of the largest exotic snakes ever found in South Florida. Hardin touted the killing of this enormous snake as an important victory in the efforts of wildlife officials to stop the spread of these giants northward.

Burmese pythons are native to Southeast Asia but have become very popular as pets here in North America. The problem is that the snakes grow quickly and become too much for their owners to handle. A 20-inch baby python can grow to be 8-feet long in only one year. Owners often become overwhelmed and often release them into the wild where they can wreak havoc on native ecosystems. They are very comfortable in southern wetlands and are reproducing quickly. According to the University of Florida , no fewer than 418 Burmese pythons were found dead or killed in Everglades National Park between 2006 and 2007.



The marshes, swamps, bayous, and bottom-lands of Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana are near perfect habitat for invasive tropical constrictors like anacondas, boas, and pythons. I particularly worry about the Big Thicket area of Texas. These invaders would do quite well there. Indeed, there is evidence that the invasion has already started.

So, the next time you hear a tale about a giant snake haunting some lonely swamp in the Lone Star State you might want to think twice before blowing it off. It could simply mean that the invaders have arrived.

Louisiana Giant Snake Photo: Is it Real?

A reader sent me the picture below of a giant snake slithering down the side of a road. The reader did not claim to have taken the picture but said the story was that the snake was photographed near the Morganza Spillway near Krotz Springs, Louisiana as it fled the impending flood waters from the swollen Mississippi River.



I have no idea if the photo is genuine. I’m guessing it is either a clever fake or a genuine photo of a snake from some other part of the world (though I can't tell just what species it might be). I am leaning toward a good photoshop job. The coloration and head shape look "mamba-like" to me. The black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis) is a very long snake, and does hold its head up high when moving, but is not close to the length represented in this photo. In addition, there is something about the shadow beneath the snake’s head that doesn’t look quite right to me. Just my opinion but I’ve been wrong before.

If it is a hoax the perpetrator is playing off a real story. The Morganza Spillway has been opened in an attempt to spare Baton Rouge and New Orleans from potentially devastating flooding. Saving these two highly populous areas required flooding hundreds of acres of rural forest and farmland and the animals of the area are on the move as documented here by CNN.

In any case, it is a fun picture. I will be curious to see if it is debunked quickly.

Big Cats and Giant Snakes in SE Texas

I have recently received two interesting emails from readers of this blog. The first email deals with a big cat sighting in Houston, Texas. The second email concerned a sighting of a huge snake in the Big Thicket National Preserve. The first email, regarding the big cat sighting and minus information that would compromise this witness's identity, is below.

I live in Houston. My house backs up to the area that is now being converted to the **********. Yesterday we spotted a large cat crossing across the field. Our first guess was Bobcat – but the tail was pointing up and was bent and short. I was just wondering what other cat might be in this area.

I have taken pictures of the coyote, but was not able to get the camera in time for the cat.

I replied with a few follow-up questions. This was the reply.

Thanks for responding! At a distance it can be a bit deceiving. My son, his girlfriend and I saw the cat around lunchtime on Tuesday. My guess is that if you ask each of us our descriptions will be a bit different.

Here’s my best description. It was a bit shorter than a boxer and a lot more sleek. I did not see any spots or stripes – the cat seemed to be gray. The tail stuck up slightly crooked probably less than a foot.

The pond has not been built behind us yet. Across ******* they have dug three of the ponds. They just started clearing the land. We back up to the easement that will be left as it is. I have attached a couple of pictures to give you an idea of our backyard or what we use as ours.

I would love to have a game camera. I feel since they are redoing the whole area behind us that we will start seeing more activity.

Thanks for your help.

The size described would seem to indicate a panther/cougar sized cat. While the gray color would seem to indicate a bobcat, the lack of any markings, and the tail described, would seem to rule out the species. Could the elusive jaguarundi have made an appearance?



I plan to keep in touch with this witness to see if the cat returns. If so, I will, with the witness's permission, get a game camera onsite to try and get a photo. Hopefully, that will allow me to identify just what type of cat is prowling this area within the Houston city limits.

The second email, concerning the sighting of a big snake is below.

Dear Texas Cryptid Hunter

You were looking for readers to send in their encounters with big snakes, well I had a good encounter with just a snake on March 28 of this year.

An avid hiker in the Big Thicket National Preserve, I was hiking the Beaverslide Trail, southeast of Livingston . The trail takes one around a large pond in thick woods. I was about halfway around it when to the left of the trail, this very large black snake appears and begins crossing the trail about 10 feet in front of me. The trail is pretty wide but this snake’s body was so long that while the head part was on the right side of the trail, the tail area was still on the left. It was high-tailing it for the water and it made a small splash as it slithered down the embankment and into the water. It left me shaken at what I saw and not sure I wanted to finish the hike around this pond.



I replied to the sender of this email with the following questions. Could the overall length and/or diameter of the snake be estimated? Was it solid black or was some sort of pattern or color variation visible? Have you looked at any photos of snakes in an attempt to find something that looks close to what you saw? To this point, however, I have not heard anything back from this witness.

As always, I would ask anyone who has seen an odd or out of place animal to contact me. My email address is Texascryptidhunter@yahoo.com.

I'll look forward to hearing from some of you.

A Giant Snake in Lake Travis?

Below is an email I received a while back from a reader who claims to have spotted a very large snake while fishing Lake Travis back in 2003. The text of his email is below:

I was surfing and found your web-site. Nice one.

Under 'Giant Snakes' you asked anyone with any info to contact you. From what I have read about your camera stories, you are here in Central Texas, so this story should be fairly easy to investigate.
In 2003 I was fishing, (alone of course), on Lake Travis and saw a large snake crawl from one point of a cove to the other.
Now I have been hunting for over 44 years and have been fishing much longer than that. I have seen beaver, nutria, deer, coyotes, bobcats, dogs, cats (yes, cats), goats, sheep, mules, horses....etc, ad nauseum, swimming in rivers and lakes before.

This was a big snake.

Head about the size of both my fists. It stopped several times, picked its head up from the water about a foot, and looked around. I guess it was worried about the boats on the lake racing by. Watched it crawl from one bank, starting in a few inches of water, and swim to the other, where it disappeared in a large tangle of tree roots and brush. Never saw it again.

Told my neighbor and my fishing buddy but of course I just got the old, "Look who has been drinking too much." look and smile.
Anyway, there's some info for you. You can contact me through e-mail, if you have any questions.

Lake Travis lies on the Colorado River northwest of Austin in Travis and Burnet Counties. It encompasses 18,622 acres and has a maximum depth of 190 feet. Lake Travis is a pretty typical western impoundment as it is dominated by rocky banks, steep cliffs, and bluffs. There is very little hydrilla or other aquatic vegetation in the lake. The water is typically very clear. I believe a large snake could survive in and around this lake. Potential prey animals found in this area range from small mammals like mice, rats, rabbits, raccoons, armadillo, and opossum. The area also is home to a population of wild spanish goats that could easily find themselves on a large snake's menu. Small ranches dot the area as well making domestic animals vulnerable to a large snake such as a python or boa. Add to the mix the fish and small amphibians that inhabit the lake itself and you have a veritable buffet.

I have sent a reply email to this reader trying to get some more detail. I would be curious as to the color pattern of the snake, the distance he actually watched it swim, and his best estimate on the length and girth of the snake. I have yet to hear back from the reader, however. I will say this is likely my fault as I have taken entirely too long to get back to him. Hopefully, he will reply soon and I can update this post with some additional detail.

The possibility of a breeding population of giant exotic serpents in the swamps, lakes, and waterways of Texas is a frightening one. The state of Florida is already dealing with this issue. Many native species have no defense and are ill equipped to deal with a non-native apex predator. The ecological impact to native species in Texas, and through out the south, could be devastating. Reports of giant snakes have already started to trickle in from southeast Texas, which is home to many swamps, marshes, rivers, and slow moving bayous. All would be ideal habitats for snakes of all types.

The report from this reader is not the first such story I have heard regarding giant snakes from central Texas. I have heard tales, on more than one occasion, of a large snake that has been sighted in and around the 906-acre Lake Bastrop. Lake Bastrop lies roughly 35 miles southeast of Austin. What makes the tales of a giant snake inhabiting this body of water so interesting is the fact that Lake Bastrop is a cooling lake for the Lower Colorado River Authority's Sim Gideon Power Plant. It would seem a cold blooded animal, like a snake, would find the perennially warm waters of a power plant lake pretty inviting.

I would very much like to hear from readers regarding encounters with large snakes in the Lone Star State. You can contact me via the 'comments' section below this post or email me directly at Texascryptidhunter@yahoo.com.

Giant Snakes in Texas?

This past summer several large Burmese Pythons were captured in South Florida. It is a well-established fact that many owners of these exotic serpents have turned them loose in the Everglades and other areas of Florida once the snakes became too large and too dangerous to handle. Many snakes have been captured over the last decade but all were identified as former pets that had been released into the wild by irresponsible owners. What caught my eye on this news story is that the 17 ft. 206 lb. python captured this past summer was wild. This confirms that these pythons have become acclimated to the swamps of Florida and have begun to breed successfully. A large population of Burmese Pythons in Florida could wreak havoc on the delicate Everglades ecosystem. You can access the news story here.



The article got me thinking about the similarities between the Everglades of South Florida and swamps and bayous of Southeast Texas. A little research reveals how similar these two areas of the country really are. For the sake of this article I compared Okeechobee, Florida, where the wild python was captured this past summer, and Beaumont, Texas, which lies just outside the borders of the legendary Big Thicket.

Beaumont lies at a mere 16 ft. above sea level. Okeechobee sits at a towering, by comparison anyway, 29 ft. above sea level. These two areas are also very close in latitude. Beaumont comes in at a latitude of 30.08 degrees North while Okeechobee sits at 27.74 degrees North latitude. This is a difference of a mere 2.34 degrees. Based on these facts, a reasonable assumption would be that the two areas would have similar climates. A little more digging reveals that to be the case. The following two graphs show the average temperatures of Okeechobee (top) and Beaumont (bottom).






Rainfall patterns proved to be similar as well. See the charts below showing annual precipitation in Okeechobee (top) and Beaumont (bottom).







The similarities between the two areas lead me to think that exotic snakes, like the Burmese Pythons being seen in Florida, would do just fine here in the Lone Star State. This could be an ecological disaster for indigenous species of our state. Everything from birds, to mammals (large and small), to alligators would be on the menu for these giant constrictors. I fear it is only a matter of time before reports of giant snakes begin to come in from Southeast Texas. It may become an even larger problem, however. The USGS recently published a graphic (below) showing just how much of the continental United States would be considered suitable habitat for pythons. The graphic is sobering.



I would ask any readers who sight what they believe to be one of these snakes or who come across any news articles documenting their presence in Southeast Texas / Southwest Louisiana to alert me. I hope I'm wrong but it is my opinion that we will begin having to deal with the problem of giant snakes in Texas sooner rather than later.

ADDENDUM - Ok, I had not seen the recent article from Texas Fish & Game about giant snakes in Texas when I wrote the above article. However, the article confirms my suspicions as it mentions a 13 ft. long Burmese Python captured in a ditch in Port Arthur, Texas. Give the article a look here.