Ball Python Invades Somerville: 4-Foot Pet Snake Inspires Twilight Surveillance

Ball python Somerville drama: a 3–4 foot, white-black-brown snake slithers loose in Massachusetts, captured on doorbell cameras but evading capture. Trending searches ask, 'Are ball pythons dangerous?' and 'How do you find a missing pet snake?' Somerville Animal Control coolly notes, 'The snake posted to social media is a ball python,' as residents swap blurry snake selfies and police urge, 'Call us if you see it.'
Following Somerville’s doorbell-camera python debut, the city’s pet owners now google, 'What to do if you spot a python?' and 'Can pythons survive in Massachusetts?' Animal Control confirms the python’s non-native, non-venomous status, yet the spectacle of midnight snake-spotters—armed with flashlights and existential dread—remains. One local quipped, 'Somerville’s never been so united by fear of a lost sock puppet.'
Ball pythons like this Somerville escapee can grow to 5 feet—yet inspire more viral neighborhood stakeouts per inch than any other non-venomous pet in the state.