Driver finds dead 16-foot python

SEDRO-WOOLLEY, Wash., Aug. 8 (UPI) -- A driver in Sedro-Woolley, Wash., says he found a 16-foot python in the middle of a local road.

Lino Silva and his friend Sarah Vogt were driving down River Road near Riverfront Park in Sedro-Woolley Thursday morning when they spotted something they originally thought was a big branch, the Skagit Valley Herald in Mount Vernon, Wash., reported.

It was actually a python.

"I just turned my head, and I saw something huge like a snake," said Silva. "I have a fear of these things. We looked at it and we were like, 'Holy guacamole!'"

The two called Vogt's boyfriend Nick Pfeifer, a snake enthusiast, to help them move the carcass of the snake to a relative's house.

Once they moved the snake, it took about 30 minutes for the three to skin it and remove the meat.

Pfeifer says he plans to have a jacket made out of the brown, tan and white skin.

"I'm hoping to get enough to make a leather jacket out of it," Pfeifer said. "If I don't have enough for a whole jacket, I'll probably do a vest."

Silva said he was happy to pass the find along to his friend.

"I don't have a desire to keep it," Silva said. "I didn't even want to touch it."