Verdun python still on the lam

A pet royal python that's been missing for almost a week in Verdun is still missing, after reports that it was located turned out to be false.

The python escaped from a private residence on 1st Avenue early last Thursday and has avoided capture ever since.

Earlier on Wednesday, police said the reptile was found between two walls of an apartment complex on Willibrord Street near 1st Avenue. But a search by a specialized company called Animex led nowhere.

Montreal police, Animex and the snake's owner are still trying to capture the 1.2-metre-long snake.

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Ariane Duplessis, a biologist with Animex, said pythons are generally more active in the evening.

"We'll be here every morning, every night until we get [the snake]," she said.

'It's going to be expensive'

Duplessis said the python has recently eaten — something it only has to do every five to seven days — so she doesn't think it will be out hunting for food.

The animal is not dangerous to humans and only preys on small rodents like rats and mice.

Duplessis said it would only be a threat to smaller pets, and only then if they try to attack the snake.

Duplessis said the animal would be seized after its capture.

"After that, we'll see what we're going to do," she said, adding that euthanasia was not likely.

Verdun allows some pythons

The borough of Verdun does allow pythons as long as they are born in captivity, less than three metres in length and not venomous. 

As to the cost of week-long operation to capture the python, Duplessis said it won't be cheap.

"It's going to be expensive, of course — firemen, police, our services for the last week, she said.

"The bill will go to [taxpayers]."

Snake already has a Twitter account 

It didn't take long after news of the python's disappearance for a Twitter user to create a joke account for it. @pythonverdun sent its first tweet Tuesday evening and has already amassed 250 followers.