An unsuspecting staff was shocked after finding a five-foot reticulated python in a hotel room she was cleaning.
The staff at the Marriott Residence Inn in Worcester immediately reported the slithering reptile to animal control.
An animal control officer, Patrick Cherry, told The Boston Globe, "They were cleaning at 8:30 or 9 a.m., opened the drawer, and found the snake. That's when we got the call."
Telegram said the animal control took the reticulated python to a pet supply shop. The shop's general manager, Rod Dzivasen, told the news site that the python appeared to be in a good and healthy condition, citing however the oddity of the incident.
"He may be two years old but he's not an old snake," Dzivasen said. "Why on earth they had him in a hotel room is beyond me."
Dzivasen added that judging from the creamy color of the snake, it is likely that it came from breeding.
Upon investigation, officers speculate that the python was likely left by a person who checked out of the hotel a day before the python was discovered. New York Post noted however that charges will not be filed.
Reticulated pythons (Python Reticulatus), considered as old world snakes, do not have venom, but they are sneaky and opportunistic predators. Being hailed as one of the longest snakes in the world, they range in size from 10 to 20 feet in length, with the largest one every being 28 and a half feet long, Snaketype.com noted.
Despite being non-venomous, there have been reports of the large reticulated python attacking humans. Latest incident of reticulated python preying on humans was reported last March. The 23-foot reticulated python swallowed an Indonesian man whole. The man was found inside the stomach of the giant reptile days after missing.
Reticulated pythons are native to Southeast Asia. They usually live in forested and woodland areas, and not inside a drawer.