Pedestrians at Marsiling beware, says STOMPer Parmes, who spotted a large snake gliding along the road at Woodlands Street 32 today (April 29).
Drivers who spotted the snake tried to avoid running over it by swerving away as soon as they noticed it slithering on the ground.
STOMPer Parmes says in an email:
"I was walking towards the Marsiling MRT station when I suddenly spotted this big python gliding on the road.
"All the drivers were swerving in order not to hurt or kill the snake.
"A man beside me took out his phone to call the snake catchers. So, people beware if you are walking around there."
Related posts: Snake found in Yuan Ching Sec (7th February 2009)
10 ft python found at Pasir Ris HDB void deck (15th January 2009)
Sightings of reticulated pythons (Broghammerus reticulatus) are quite commonly posted on STOMP. A quick search for 'python' and 'snake' brought up at least 17 posts; pythons have been spotted in all sorts of places, from parks and gardens like Bishan Park and Chinese Garden, to urban areas such as Orchard Road, Jurong East, Toa Payoh, Potong Pasir, and Pasir Ris. Pythons have also been recorded hitching rides on cars. One python in Bedok was even witnessed stalking and killing a stray cat!
Unfortunately, many of these encounters ended with the python being caught, as you can see in these posts here, here and here. If only more people were more willing to accept the fact that like it or not, these giant snakes have always been living amongst us.
Hopefully, in time to come, more people can see the valuable role the reticulated python plays as apex predators of our urban ecosystems; surely, if not for these serpents roaming our drains and sewers, I'm sure that we would be having much more serious problems with rodents.
