MARION, IL- A white box once filled with computer paper warns of something else. Written in marker is the word 'snake.'
Even still, the contents still manage to catch some off guard.
"Oh, God...bless America," Animal Control officer Kevin Askew shouts out as he catches a glimpse of the 3-foot ball python for the second time on Wednesday.
Askew was one of two officers to respond to a call for pickup that morning. The python had been discovered in the parking lot of Heartland Regional Hospital.
He believes a pet owner, who no longer wanted to or could afford to care for the snake, dropped it off there, knowing someone would find it.
Nurse Diana Mugge did not find the snake, but she did worry. She owns two snakes, and was surprised it had survived.
"It's sad, a perfectly healthy animal released just to deal with itself," she said.
So, the 12-year veteran of the emergency room decided to adopt it. She said Wednesday she was looking forward to bringing it home.
Her 16-year-old son wants to be a herpetologist- a doctor specializing in reptiles and she says there is not much he does not know about snakes.
"It's going to go to a good home," Kevin Askew with Animal Control said.
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