Expert: Snake skin found in Maine park came from green anaconda

WESTBROOK, Maine, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- Police in the Maine city where a large snakeskin was found in a park said the skin belonged to an anaconda that can grow to up to 30 feet long.

The Westbrook Police Department said the snake skin discovered in Riverfront Park, along the Presumpscot River, was tested by University of Texas at Tyler associate biology professor John Placyk Jr. and found to belong to a green anaconda.

"We do not know if the snake skin was planted as a hoax or if it was actually left there by an anaconda," the department said in a Facebook post.

Placyk said the snake could grow up to 30 feet long.

"The skin is from a green anaconda, not a yellow anaconda," he told the Bangor Daily News. "So [it's] the bigger species -- the one that gets 20 to 30 feet."

He said the weather will take care of the snake if it isn't found by authorities.

"Once temps start floating around 50 [degrees] for a sustained period, it will most likely die in short order," he said.

The snake, nicknamed "Wessie," has proven popular with residents. The police department shared a drawing from a local teen of the snake wearing a police officer's hat.