Electric bill leads to pythons
The mystery began with a snake that wasn’t supposed to be there. In March, residents near a town in Taizhou, eastern China, spotted a large python moving through the area and alerted authorities. Not because the snake was large — although witnesses described it as unusually thick — but because of the timing. It was still early spring, when wild snakes in the region are typically inactive. So where had it come from? Investigators suspected the animal had escaped from captivity, but finding its source would prove far more complicated. Herpatologists told police that keeping pythons alive in large numbers requires a carefully controlled environment: heat, humidity and constant regulation. All of it consumes power. If someone were breeding snakes, their electricity bill would probably show it. Among the homes that caught their attention was an apartment with unusually high power consumption. When officers entered the property, they found what police described as an illegal breeding operation hidden behind an ordinary residential door.
Two bedrooms and the living room had been converted into reptile enclosures. Plastic containers filled the rooms. Inside them were pythons — hundreds of them. Furniture had reportedly been pushed into the remaining small space, while the rest of the flat was used for the animals. By the end of the search, police had counted 309 pythons. That was only the beginning of the investigation. As investigators dug deeper, they traced shipments, financial transactions and online activity. Police allege the apartment was part of a wider network involving several people engaged in breeding and selling protected snakes.
One suspect was accused of regularly sourcing white mice to feed the reptiles. Another allegedly supplied some of the pythons. Social media posts and transaction records helped investigators piece together what authorities say was a profitable underground trade. What started with one escaped snake eventually led police to 436 pythons, according to Chinese media reports. Authorities estimated their value at about $4.2 million. The case has attracted widespread attention across China, where exotic pet ownership has expanded rapidly in recent years. Industry estimates cited by the South China Morning Post put the number of people keeping exotic animals, including reptiles and amphibians, at roughly 17 million. But pythons are subject to strict restrictions. Chinese authorities classify them as Grade Two protected wildlife, making it illegal to breed, transport or sell them without official approval.
Cuddly Carnivores
I saw a snake in the yard today…
It was a real beast measuring 3.14 meters long!
I thought to myself that it must be a Pi-thon…
Q: What kind of snake is something completely different?
A: A Monty Python.
I invented a device that can stop a snake in its tracks.
It’s made of asphalt.
How do you get a snake into Hogwarts?
You tell it to slither in.
June 26th Birthdays
1994 – Ariana Grande, 1985 – Aubrey Plaza, 1986 – Nicole Arbour, 1992 – Jenette McCurdy
1974 – Derek Jeter, 1970 – Chris O’Donnel, 1998 – Jacob Elordi, 1980 – Michael Vick