To think this cannot be legal...

[user1481143387]

DS1 13 months would not go to sleep tonight so DP took him in the pushchair for a walk. He came across an absolutely massive snake in the park. Someone had let him out of a large tank apparently (not in the pic). Lots of bystanders taking pics. I know people can have these in their homes, but in public??? Cannot be legal right?

I'm a regular but name changed as I knew people would ask where this was and obviously telling the location could be outing. This is in Roberts Park, Saltaire, West Yorkshire.

This is for real.

WTF?!!!!

Snakes give me the heebie jeebies. It would be good for my fitness if I saw one in the park as I would go for a very long run!

A 23 foot wild snake who will need to be an opportunistic feeder is a lot different from a domesticated snake who is getting regular food

That story is just fear mongering at it's worst

Mine’s on mice, because he’s just a small species

Mine is a fussy bugger

He's big enough to take rat pinkies but he throws a strop if he doesn't get mice fluffs first.

He's a Californian Kingsnake

However even a much smaller snake is capable of killing someone: www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-england-hampshire-42801983

I love snakes, have had as pets and would do so again but I would never take one to a public place like this - for the snake's sake! There's too many variables you can't control. Out in the back garden in an enclosed area to get some sun is fine but taking it to the local park immediately makes me assume the owner is just doing it for attention.
Retics can often grow over 20feet but they usually get dumped before then as people don't have the ability /space/finance to properly house them. Sadly the rescue centres really struggle with big snakes - they are easy and cheap to buy when little but don't stay that way for long 😞 why can people stick to a nice corn or a royal python...

yes, cobras can get very large,egyptian friend is a snake charmer and has some huge ones. and i agree its probably an albino constrictor.very rare creature.
here we have python hunts .the idiots get them for pets then can't take care of them and let them loose.now the everglades are being wiped out by pythons.
wanna see the gator in my back yard/he is fast and he will eat your dog.

DH once got called out to an escaped snake ( he was a policeman ) that had escaped from its tank and slithered through a heating vent that went through all the flats , into the flat below , where he was discovered curled up under the duvet ( the snake not my DH! ) of a 78 year old lady , who when she found him , decided after ringing police , to poke him repeatedly with a broom handle , which rather pissed him off . DH turned up expecting something like a corn snake , and actually found one of these reticulated pythons instead . And it was rather cross . In the end , they got the local zoo to come out and even then it took 8 of them to get it into a suitable container . The owner ended up signing him over to the zoo , and I believe he was over 20 feet in length . He’s still there , and every time we visit DH tells anyone who will listen how he fearlessly subdued it with only his presence and a big bag ....

Thank you @psicat for that information, @Soubriquet I wasn't trying to scaremonger or misinform, I did acknowledge in my previous post that I knew there was a difference from a domesticated snake (if snakes can really be domesticated, I think that's up for debate as some species can indeed be tamed but certainly not in the way that dogs or cats are) and a wild one. I was just implying that this kind of powerful animals, while indeed beautiful shouldn't perhaps be taken lightly, least of all out on public walks. Since reading psicat's article, I found another case of two Canadian boys being killed by the same type of smaller snake mentioned, and this one was also a pet...so yes, pet snake attacks might be incredibly rare and uncommon but ultimately possible, and you never know what can suddenly trigger its predatory instincts or scare it, a warning sign that snake owners should be more careful handling their pets and perhaps always accompanied so that in the worst case scenario someone can intervene (not sure how easy it would be to pry a constricting snake off someone though )

I had my wedding photos taken in that park. Only snake I saw was the one I married.

when was this plomino

neither the police or RSPCA wanted to know when it happened to us.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/2424973-to-be-really-scared-and-pissed-off-with-the-RSPCA

Woah! @SimonBridges your pond?!!! . Where do you live & what snake is that?

Think I'd rather meet that giant burm in the park than come face to face with an unexpected snake slithering across my pond 🐍

@BarbaraofSevillle 😱 I did not know that! I walk in Stainburn all the time with my big goofy idiot dog. Can't decide if I'd love to see that or not (Stainburn can be creepy AF without the added potential of snake spotting).

I’m shocked it’s legal, I thought you needed a license for large snakes! It doesn’t matter that it’s domestic and fed, it could kill an animal or a child and the owner wouldn’t be able to do a thing. I’d have —shouted from the distance— said something to the owner and I’m not usually confrontational.

How many snakes have killed people in Britain compared to how many dogs have?!

trigger warning for arachnophobes.

www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/news/local-news/spiders-tarantulas-somercotes-1785645

Only on mumsnet would you get people saying it's perfectly legal and fine to take a massive snake to the park 🙄 ridiculous

@gottaslowdown About a mile from the town centre but I back onto a park. We get lots of snakes. This is the biggest but I’ve seen about 5 of various sizes this year.

I don't mind the snake, but I'm really, really scared of spiders and the tarantula stories are horrendous. I'm now reminded that I live next door to a fruit shop .

What happens if Ethel decides that the park looks cozier than her tank and puts up a fight going home?!

Oh dd would have loved that! She adores snakes, always wanted one.

This is a fab thread if you love snakes but I definitely think it needs a warning in the title.

@SimonBridges Roughly what sort of area of the UK (?) is your pond?! We also back on to a park & are not far from town centre....

Just checking we aren't neighbours

Don't think I'll peer so closely into my pond anymore! I love wildlife. But I don't like surprises....

It is perfectly legal bichonbaby but I wouldn't say its fine!
There are no legal restrictions to keep any of the constricting snakes (except animal welfare requirements), including anacondas and retics. Both of which can grow over 20 foot and are documented cases of them killing and eating people...

Many big snakes are very docile however , especially albinos. I have been very tempted to take on a big Burmese that was dealing with at work, he was so sweet - but I don't have the space to make him a proper viv. At 14 foot I would want him to have his own room 😉

But snakes are snakes, it can easily go wrong - I would never put any snake around my neck for example. Having held one that had a sudden fright it was incredible how strong it was when it properly tightened for an instant on my arm. And that was only three foot long.

I think someone said earlier about how should have multiple handlers on snake of that size, totally agree. Taking it down the park is rather irresponsible - but not illegal 😒

I’m not a fan of the slithery ones at all, this looks like an albino python, non venomous, scary but they won’t harm you if you leave them alone

we often had a grass snake in and around our pond.

It was huge, seriously 2 metres long and as thick as my arm.

It would slide across the edge of the water, swim in the pond, and curl up alseep under a rock.

we lived in south of England, rural, but in a village and only a couple of miles from M4, so not that rural.

Are you sure that was a grass snake? It sounds too big. They only reach a metre and 100g.