WILTON - Harley Burgess hasn't slept well since he discovered an 8- to 9-foot reticulated python under the engine of his pickup truck Saturday morning.

"I'm still shaking about it," Burgess said. "I hate snakes!"

Burgess, who lives on Weld Road, said he and his 9-year-old grandson had stopped at a store in East Wilton to get something to eat before they headed to Chesterville.

A friend came into the store minutes later to tell him he wouldn't believe what had just crawled out from under the engine compartment of Burgess' truck.

The friend thought it was a muffler pipe hanging down at first, until he looked closer.

"It was a huge snake," Burgess said. "It was unbelievable. I parked over a mud puddle and that's when it came down. The clerk at the store thought I was going to have a heart attack, I was shaking so much."

Burgess, a hunter and fisherman, said he has had nightmares that the snake could have gotten his grandson.

"This bothered me a lot," he said.

Burgess said he has been searching for clues to find out who had the snake and how it got loose to get in his truck.

The reticulated python is illegal in Maine unless permits are obtained, according to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The only pythons that are legal in Maine are the ball, jungle carpet and children's python.

Wayne Atwood, Wilton's animal control officer, was called in to catch the snake.

Atwood said when he arrived he saw the snake lying under the vehicle.

He thought it was a boa constrictor but learned later it was a reticulated python.

He used snake tongs to pick it up, and the snake wrapped itself around the pole. He put the snake into a pet carrier and brought it to Sue Metzger, a state humane agent, in Livermore Falls.

It was the first reticulated python he has come across in 19 years, Atwood, of Jay, said.

It is the second python of its species to be found in Maine in less than a week. A Gorham woman found a reticulated python in a washing machine on Wednesday.

Metzger said when she received the snake she contacted Rick Teele, who is familiar with snakes, and brought it to his home in Fayette.

He identified the reptile as a reticulated python.

The snake had injuries on its upper jaw from being dragged.

Metzger said she contacted Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife and then a rehabilitator.

Teele told her the snake would be better off traveling in a pillowcase, so he put it in one and tied it off and then put it back in the carrier. This species of snake can grow to nearly 33 feet, Metzger said.

She brought someone with her and the two drove the python to Lewiston to a rehabilitator, Jen Lewis, of Mis-Fit Rehabilitation.

"This is one reason people should read up on what they're buying, not that it would have made this one legal," Metzger said.

When people have to move or no longer know what to do with snakes as they get larger they will let them go out in the woods.

"This is when there can be problems," Metzger said. "People need to educate themselves to make the right decision, if a snake is going to be the right pet for them. If they do have a snake and no longer want it, they should call a rehabilitator, or (Maine Inland Fisheries) to find other options than to just let it loose."