Big News in the Northwest!

On Tuesday night, my brother and dad were driving home when they thought they saw a branch in the road. They backed up and accidentally ran over it, but it didn't turn out to be a branch...it was a 10 foot python! They called the cops and the only female cop on site was the brave one who tried to get it in the cage. This story has been all over the news not just in Eugene, but in Portland and Seattle! Here are some of the links to the stories. Kyle was also interviewed so the first link shows a video of him if you click on the little blue video clip button below the photo on the page.

• http://www.kval.com/news/local/53208987.html
• http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/news/sevendays/18589295-35/story.csp
  
• http://www.komonews.com/news/local/53153587.html
• http://www.kmtr.com/mediacenter/local.aspx?videoId=69381@kmtr.dayport.com&navCatId=5
• http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_081309_news_eugene_python.d7e2a3be.html
  

I also included my dad's story along with the pictures below. If you are like me and can't even look at snakes on tv, I suggest not scrolling down! I can't believe I am even putting these on my blog but you can't get the full effect of the story without them!

"As we turned from Cal Young onto Spyglass, Kyle drove over someone.

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS ARE GRAPHIC.



This is a 10' Python that was slithering across Spyglass. Kyle just thought it was a branch. I had him slam on the brakes and backup. Unfortunately Kyle ran over the poor fellow. (Sad, I know.)


We called 911 and they had us call the Eugene Police. The Police said to canvas the neighborhood to see if it belonged to any neighbor. So I started knocking on doors at 10:22 p.m. No one claimed the snake. So we called the police again.

Eugene's finest soon showed up. Officer Lori I. Barnes was the first to arrive. She said "Oh Sh**!!!". Soon two male officers arrived. Who took care of the problem???
You got it.... Lori reached down and grabbed it's tail. It turned out to be surprisingly fast and strong.



The male officers yelled, "Don't let it crawl up the power pole", as they hide behind the pole!!!



Soon a neighbor brought over a raccoon trap. He got smart and opened one end and laid the cage upright and then put the tarp over it to make it dark and attractive to the Python. Surprisingly, without coaxing, the Python slithered into the cage.
Officer Lori Barnes then took the Python to the animal hospital."