It was supposed to be an ordinary afternoon in Freehold, New Jersey.
A homeowner was outside watering flowers when something unusual moved across the backyard.
At first, it was difficult to understand what she was seeing. The animal was moving slowly, and its size made it look almost unreal. Then she realized it was a snake—and not an ordinary garden snake.
It was an approximately 8-foot Burmese python.
The snake eventually disappeared beneath the floor of a backyard shed, leaving the family with an extraordinary problem: there was a huge exotic predator underneath a structure on their property, and nobody knew why it was there.
But there was another detail that made the situation even more unusual.
The python had a massive bulge in the middle of its body.
It had recently eaten.
When animal-control officers arrived, the snake’s full stomach made the rescue considerably more difficult. The team eventually had to remove parts of the shed floor to reach the animal safely. After the python was recovered, medical staff used X-rays to determine what had caused the dramatic swelling.
The answer was remarkable.
The python had swallowed a large opossum.
The incident became a fascinating example of how large constricting snakes feed, digest enormous meals, and survive on prey that can seem impossibly large compared with their own bodies.
But it also raised another important question: How did an exotic Burmese python end up underneath a shed in New Jersey in the first place?
The story is not simply about a giant snake and a shocking X-ray. It is also about exotic-pet ownership, responsible wildlife handling, snake biology, digestion, and the dangers of releasing non-native animals into the environment.
An Ordinary Backyard Suddenly Became the Site of an Extraordinary Discovery
The discovery happened in Freehold Township, New Jersey.
According to reports, homeowner Leslie Daley was watering flowers when she noticed a large yellowish snake moving through the backyard. Her family later realized the snake had entered or moved beneath the floor of their shed.
For most homeowners, finding a snake in the yard would already be enough to cause concern.
Finding an eight-foot Burmese python would be an entirely different experience.
Burmese pythons are large constricting snakes native to parts of Southeast Asia. They are not native wildlife in New Jersey.
That immediately made this more than an ordinary backyard wildlife encounter.
The family contacted the Monmouth County SPCA, and trained animal-control personnel responded.
The goal was not simply to pull the snake out as quickly as possible.
A snake of that size can be powerful, and an animal that has recently eaten may be physically different from one with an empty stomach.
The responders therefore had to approach the situation carefully.
The Swollen Belly Was the First Major Clue
The most visually striking feature of the snake was its enormous abdominal bulge.
Anyone who saw the python could reasonably wonder what it had eaten.
Large snakes do not chew their food the way humans or many mammals do.
Instead, pythons swallow prey whole.
That means the outline of a recently consumed animal can sometimes be visible through the snake’s body.
This is especially noticeable when the prey is large relative to the snake.
A snake’s body is extraordinarily flexible. Its ribs and surrounding tissues can accommodate substantial changes in volume, allowing the animal to consume prey that appears far too large for its mouth and body at first glance.
But flexibility has limits.
In this case, the meal may have contributed to the difficulty of getting the python back through the opening beneath the shed.
Animal-control officer Scott Crawford explained that because of the snake’s size and full belly, responders could not simply pull it through the hole where it had entered. A local contractor helped remove floorboards so the team could gain better access.
It was an unusual rescue operation for an unusual animal.
The Shed Floor Had to Be Opened
The family had not planned to dismantle part of their shed that day.
But the snake had positioned itself beneath the floor.
The responders needed enough access to safely reach and control the python without causing unnecessary injury to either the animal or the people involved.
A local contractor helped remove sections of the floor.
Even after the floorboards were opened, the snake’s swollen body remained a challenge.
The rescuers could not immediately determine exactly where the python’s head was, which is particularly important when dealing with a large constricting snake.
Eventually, the trained animal-control officer carefully unwound and removed the python.
The Monmouth County SPCA reported that the animal was taken into care rather than simply released back into the area.
That decision was important.
This was not a native snake that could simply be returned to the backyard.
It was an exotic species that does not belong in New Jersey’s wild ecosystem.
The Python Was in Surprisingly Good Condition
After the rescue, the python was examined.
Reports identified it as approximately eight feet long and around 40 pounds after its recent meal. News 12 reported that the SPCA’s medical director considered the snake to be in generally good physical condition and not dehydrated.
That is significant because the animal had apparently been living outdoors in a place far outside its native range.
Burmese pythons are adapted to warm environments.
New Jersey’s climate is very different from the tropical and subtropical environments where these snakes naturally occur.
An exotic python might survive for a period during warm weather, but long-term survival through a New Jersey winter would be a very different challenge.