Wilton man discovers python in his pickup

LEWISTON – A Wilton man is having trouble sleeping since he found a 9-foot-long python under the engine of his pickup truck.

Harley Burgess’ shocking discovery Saturday is the second of its kind in less than a week in Maine. Last Wednesday, a Gorham woman found a snake – also identified as a reticulated python – in the washing machine.

In Wilton, Burgess says he’s still shaking when he thinks of the python found under his truck. He has had nightmares about the snake getting his grandson, who was with him the day the python was discovered.

Burgess has been searching for clues as to how the snake got loose in his truck. Reticulated pythons are illegal in Maine without a permit.