GILROY—Hikers at Christmas Hill Park were in for a surprise this past weekend when they encountered a 6-foot-long python as it wriggled down from the hills into the road on Miller Avenue to warm its belly on the concrete.
Cheryl Hock, of Gilroy, and her 26-year-old daughter were hiking the park’s trails when they noticed passing cars slowing down, before the vehicles circled back for another glance at something in the roadway. Upon closer inspection, the naturally curious Hock saw it was a massive snake—like one she’d never seen before in the Garlic Capital.
“The closer I got the more shocked I was,” Hock told the Dispatch. “I’d never seen such a huge snake. It had just eaten so it was especially large. It must have found a rabbit or something.”
Concerned passing cars would injure or kill the animal, Hock summoned nearby employees with the city’s public works department, who directed traffic until an animal control officer arrived.
Gilroy Police Department Community Service Officer Rhyan Pike removed the snake from the park and contacted a Los Banos-based exotic reptile rescue organization.
“They had a volunteer meet me at the station to pick it up, so the snake is now in care of the rescue,” Pike said Wednesday.
While Pike is unsure of the species, the animal control officer confirmed it was indeed a python.
Hock said she dubbed the snake “Monty” and was wowed by its size.
“He was so gorgeous he was worthy of a name,” the Gilroy resident said. “It was such a beautiful animal. Somebody must have just dropped him off after getting tired of him or he was too much for them to handle, so they thought they’d just let him out in the wild.”
“I’d never seen anything like this around here. I’m just glad I didn’t meet him on the trail,” Hock said with a laugh.
