RUMFORD — Aside from being the “Joke of the Day” on Thursday in the municipal building, there were no more reported sightings of a giant snake in Rumford’s canal system.
Of course, if it exists, it could be anywhere in the area by now.
On Wednesday morning, two people contacted Rumford police dispatcher Sue Milligan saying they’d seen a large snake entering the canal off Canal Street behind Bartash’s store.
Based on their descriptions, the snake is purported to be a 17-foot boa constrictor.
Local snake expert Robbie White of Mexico said Wednesday that it could possibly be a red-tail boa constrictor or a Burmese python that was someone’s pet and escaped.
The snake-sighting was also reported to the Maine Warden Service, which will be investigating the claim. Anyone with detailed information about a specific location of the reptile for an extended period of time is asked to contact the Warden Service.
Some people driving down Canal Street could be seen sitting up straighter in the driver’s seat and scanning the canal. Others, like Roxbury resident and Selectman Deborah DeRoche simply rolled down her window and said she wasn’t getting out of her truck anywhere on Canal Street with a snake that big at large.
Rumford Town Manager Carlo Puiia said he hadn’t heard any more news about the snake.
“It’s been the Joke of the Day here,” he said. “Whoever walked in the door, whether they were the code enforcement officer or selectmen, was told it was their responsibility to go get it.”
Seriously, though, Puiia and White both said, that if a loose snake is actually in the canal area, the best chance to see it would be on a sunny day when it ventures out of hiding for some warmth.
tkarkos@sunjournal.com