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Queensland police python photo gains internet fame

QUEENSLAND POLICE A police officer next to a giant python in far north QueenslandQUEENSLAND POLICE
Queensland police first posted the image on Monday

A photo of an Australian police officer encountering a python has drawn a large reaction on social media.

The officer and his partner were on a night patrol in northern Queensland when they came across the "monster" scrub python on a road, police said.

Spotting an opportunity, the officers snapped a picture with the reptile.

"Fair to say that the snake was over five metres [long] but not really the type of reptile that you want to take a tape measure to," police told the BBC.

Queensland police shared the photo, taken earlier this year, across its social media accounts on Monday. They said it had since received more than two million views and 10,000 comments.

"We don't do boring," the post read.

"You never really know what you are going to come across in a single shift."

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Police said the initial post had drawn a huge response from the public - "mostly saying 'nope' or 'hell no'".

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The officers came across the snake near Wujul Wujul, about 345km (210 miles) north of the city of Cairns.

Scrub pythons, Australia's longest snake, can grow up to 7m (23ft), according to Australia Zoo.