Police called to remove ‘python’ that was tiny garter snake

COCHRANE, Alberta — Police in Canada were called about an animal emergency — a purported python slithering around a gas station convenience store.

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However, when authorities arrived, it turned out that the ravenous reptile was a harmless garter snake, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said on social media.

“That, obviously, is something we don’t go to very often,” Cpl. Tammy Keibel, a department spokesperson, told Global News. “Animal calls are part of it, but it might be loose horses, cows on the highway, maybe a loose dog.”

Garter snakes are not aggressive or venomous. They will flee rather than risk confrontation. Officers were able to wrangle the small snake and then safely release it, “with the understanding that it would not continue to traumatize the humans,” Keibel said.

Cox Media Group