The story of a large snake roaming around Westbrook, Maine just took an unexpected turn as snake skin found in the area earlier this month has been identified as coming from an anaconda, according to an article on BangorDailyNews.com.
In June, the Westbrook Police Department warned the public to be aware of a large snake in the area after two police officers observed a roughly 10-foot snake eating a large mammal, possibly a beaver, on the banks of the Presumpscot River. The incident came after several reports of people seeing a snake about the size of a car.
On August 20, a snakeskin measuring just over 12 feet long was found on the banks of the Presumpscot River. A herpetologist who ran genetic testing on the skin said it is “a 100 percent match” for an anaconda.
Anacondas are a predator native to South America. They are not venomous, but rather live in rivers and constrict their prey to death. Being not native to the area, if it is an anaconda, it would likely not survive the winter.
Of course, there is no way to know for sure whether the skin really came from the snake recently spotted in the Westbrook area, or if it was put there as a hoax.
Read about snake skin found in Maine identified as coming from an anaconda.