DAVIE, Fla. — Ross Price came home from a night study session at Nova Southeastern University in Florida when he noticed something massive moving near his roommate's parking spot.
Price, 24, then ran inside his apartment to tell his roommate that an 11-foot reticulated python was slithering beneath his car.
"It was sitting there, just taking its time, with no worry in the world," Price said. "We called (Broward County) Animal Control first, but it was too late for them to respond."
Reticulated pythons are similar to Burmese pythons, but grow larger in size and have a black, yellow and white diamond-shaped pattern on its back, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. They are rarely seen in Florida's wilderness, unlike the Burmese python.
After calling police for help, Price said the snake slowly wandered inside the car's hood.
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When Davie police arrived, the python had already coiled itself around the engine, and it took three officers about 15 minutes to get the snake out, Price said.
"The snake tightened its grip around the engine, which made it hard for them to pull him out," Price said.
One brave officer took a picture with the giant python after it was finally removed from the car and was posted to the department's Facebook page.
Price said this was the first known sighting of a python in the area where he lives, but his apartment is about 50 feet away from a canal.
Officers speculated that the python could have been someone's pet that had been released into the wild. They handed the snake over to a reptile store in Hollywood, Price said.
The snake incident didn't seem to faze Price, since he used to own a python as a pet.
"I grew up with snakes, so I'm used to seeing them," he said.