Mystery python found in Maine washer

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GORHAM, Maine, July 17 (UPI) -- Folks in a small town in Maine say they'll probably never know how an 8-foot python found its way into an unsuspecting woman's washing machine.

Richard Burton told the Lewistown Sun Journal Thursday that the poor woman was "still crying when I left her house" after an unexpected wrestling match in which he nearly had his hand crushed.

"That thing came right up at me and almost got me in the eyeballs," Burton said. "It was a lot bigger than I expected it to be."

Burton said he was called to the house in Gorham after the woman said she had reached into pull out a pair of jeans and felt the slither of her life instead.

Burton, who runs an animal control company, said he put on a pair welding gloves and reached in to yank out what he thought would be a native snake that might measure three feet at best.

"He got around my hand and just shut the blood flow right off," said Burton. "He's not very happy with anybody."

The wayward tropical serpent was taken in a bag to nearby Lewiston. The Sun Journal said the next stop would probably be a zoo.