EASTPORT (AP) – A slithery visitor spotted in a state park has residents wondering how a snake from the South wound up Down East.

A state biologist identified the 5-foot-long, yellow and black snake found last week in Shackford Head State Park as a yellow rat snake.

Phillip deMaynadier of the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said the nonpoisonous snake, which hails from the southern United States and is normally found no farther north than the Carolinas, is probably an escaped pet.

The snake could have been a stowaway that jumped ship at the city’s shipping port, not far from where it was found, he said.

DeMaynadier said the snake might not survive below-freezing temperatures, but if it makes it to summer it could prey on mice and voles.

“There might not be as much food as there might be in its native area,” he said. “This snake has a ways to go before it feels comfortable.”

The snake might scare park visitors who stumble on it by shaking its tail like a rattlesnake.

Patti Craig, who saw the snake, said she hopes that it finds a good home.

“I wish somebody would find it and not destroy it,” she said. “There are people who would take it and take care of it.”

Although they give some people the shivers, snakes are vital members of the ecosystem, said Aram Calhoun, associate professor of wetland ecology at the University of Maine.

“Snakes are beneficial creatures,” she said. “Snakes are an asset in wilderness control and they stay away from human beings.”