2 homeless pythons given to Vermont man head to sanctuary

August 25, 2015 12:00 am • Last Updated: August 26, 2015 4:24 pm

Mack Ralbovsky, left, of the Rainforest Reptile Shows, gets assistance from Vermont game wardens Tim Carey, center, and Wes Butler as they remove a reticulated python, between 17 and 18 feet long, from the home of Pat Howard Tuesday in North Clarendon, Vt. Howard got the female snake and a slightly smaller male on Sunday from a person in New York, but turned them over to game wardens because he doesn't have a license to keep them and they are too big. The wardens sent the snakes to the Rainforest Reptile Shows in Massachusetts, which will care for them. (Wilson Ring/AP Photo

North Clarendon, Vt. — Two giant snakes native to southeast Asia have been rescued by a Vermont man and turned over to state game wardens, and now they're headed to a snake sanctuary in Massachusetts.

Game Warden Chad Barrett says the snakes are probably the biggest ever seen in Vermont.

The larger of the two reticulated pythons picked up Tuesday by experts from the Massachusetts-based Rainforest Reptile Shows was between 17 and 18 feet long and weighed an estimated 220 pounds. A smaller male was about 15 feet long and weighed about 150 pounds.

North Clarendon, Vermont, snake collector Pat Howard says he got the pythons Sunday from a New York man who couldn't keep them. He knew he didn't have the permits to keep them so on Monday he called state game wardens.

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