Blackwater python: Man who caught snake says another is on the loose

A man who claims he managed to capture a python in a park now believes there may be a second one on the loose.

Zoltan Pohner, from Bournemouth, said he located the 6ft (1.8m) snake last week in Blackwater, Hampshire, and has been taking care of it ever since.

Police reported sightings of a carpet python there earlier this month.

However, on closer inspection, Mr Pohner said the snake he found has different markings to the one featured in the photo issued by officers.

Mr Pohner said he spent three days trying to track down the reptile after reading reports of the police appeal on the BBC.

The snake enthusiast said he had only seen a low resolution photograph of the python before he found a python in the same place.

"When I found the snake I checked the head - it was almost identical and I didn't think there would be another one so I didn't really compare the pattern because why [would I]? I found the snake," he said.

He said it was only when he saw a higher definition version of the photograph that he realised it was "definitely not the same snake".

Carpet snakes, which are native to Australia, are not venomous and can be kept as pets.

Mr Pohner said he believed the snakes might have been dumped as a pair by somebody who had been unable to afford the cost of keeping them in a heated tank.

Hampshire Constabulary confirmed it had received a report that the python pictured in its appeal had been located.

The force urged the snake's owner to get in touch.

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