PEMBROKE PINES, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida man fought back after, he said, an eight-foot python slithered into his garage, Friday morning, and the large reptile bit him as he struggled to contain it.
Joseph Liscinsky, who has lived in a residence located up against a canal for 22 years, has seen alligators and several different kids of lizards, but had never crossed paths with a python.
That all changed when he let his 14-pound dog Midnight out for a walk in his backyard. As he walked back to the canal, he spotted the reptile slithering its way toward his home.
Liscinsky walked into his garage and tried to locate the python. Then he looked down.
“I just jumped,” said Liscinsky.
He found the python curled up in a corner. Startled though he may have been, the homeowner acted quickly.
“My neighbor helped me, and I held its head down and grabbed the snake,” said Liscinsky, “and he curled around me, and I took him outside.”
Liscinsky’s neighbor provided the homeowner with a pillowcase. “As soon as I tried to throw its head down, he jumped back up and got my fingers,” he said.
The homeowner then showed 7News his left hand. “Three times; one, two, three,” he said. “He raked it pretty hard.”
Fortunately, the python was non-venomous, and it ended up in a rubber container.
Once a Florida Fish and Wildlife crew arrived at the home, they took measurements and confirmed the reptile was eight feet long.
Liscinsky said he’s just glad he found the snake before his dog did. “‘Cause that thing could have just rolled up on him,” he said. ‘I’ll be sure, my dog, to come out with him every day. I hope it doesn’t happen again.”
FWC officials said they do not plan to immediately put down the python. First they will see if they’re able to find someone who will take it in.
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