Whidbey Island residents are accustomed to finding snails and slugs big enough to choke a goose in their backyards. But one Oak Harbor resident recently found something a little different in his grass: a python.

Tuesday, a Swan Drive resident called 911 to report what he thought was a boa constrictor trapped in a box in his backyard. He said it wasn’t his and he wanted it removed.

Oak Harbor Animal Control Terry Sampson responded to the report and found a 4-foot-long ball python. The resident said the snake had been waiting underneath a swallow’s nest for a day and a half, perhaps hoping for a baby bird to fall out.

Obviously, ball pythons aren’t native to the Pacific Northwest.

“He was either someone’s pet that got out or someone abandoned him,” Sampson said, adding that the reptile was in good shape.

Sampson said he brought the python to an “undisclosed location” for safe keeping. The snake will be on a six-day hold to give the owner time to claim it.