REXBURG, Idaho (AP) — Bessy the Burmese python is recovering in an animal shelter after spending two weeks dodging searchers and an infrared camera in a 57,000-square-foot apartment complex in this southeastern Idaho town.
The 8-foot snake's hiding spot was found Tuesday by another "snake" — a 100-foot-long device with a camera on the end normally used to locate plumbing problems in hard-to-reach places.
"It's the most interesting plumbing job I've had so far," said Kip Salas of Advanced Plumbing, who discovered Bessy in the bathroom ceiling.
After finding the snake, Stanford and animal control officers tried to lure her out with a white rat snack without success. So they lassoed Bessy with a steel collar and dragged her from the hole in the ceiling. Bessy received some scratches during her ordeal — and an eviction notice.
"We're going to let it eat, then it's leaving the building forever," said Kevin Kennedy, the apartment owner, who wanted the snake out of the complex dead or alive.