iStockphoto / AlexLMX/Mark Williams
Burmese python snake over a Welcome to New Jersey sign
A homeowner in Monmouth County, New Jersey was stunned when she was working in her garden and witnessed an 8-foot Burmese python slither past. The sight of a snake that big is a shock in and of itself but this particular snake had been eating quite well recently and it looked as if the Burmese python had swallowed a bowling ball (spoiler alert: it was a possum).
Burmese pythons are native to Southeast Asia but they have flourished in recent years throughout South Florida. Just this week the winners of the 2026 Florida Python Challenge were announced along with the news that 280 invasive Burmese pythons were removed from the Florida Everglades.
8-Foot Burmese Python Found In New Jersey
The homeowner spotted this 8-foot behemoth of a snake which eventually was weighed and discovered to be all of 40 pounds. That is an absolute unit, and the working theory is it was someone’s pet and grew so large they were no longer able to care for it so they carelessly and recklessly released it into the wild.
The snake was found to be living underneath the family’s shed in Freehold and was so large the floor of the shed had to be disassembled in order to excavate it. Once they were able to safely remove the snake, it was taken to the Monmouth SPCA and x-ray’d which revealed a large possum inside its belly.
The homeowner says she was watering her flowers around 4 o’clock when she “saw something yellow moving very slowly across the front of (her) shed.”
While these non-native snakes may be flourishing throughout South Florida as they are perfectly suited to life in the Everglades swamps the same cannot be said for New Jersey. This species’ ideal temperature for basking ranges from 88–92°F and their coolest range is from 75–80°F. They also thrive in humidity levels of 50-75%.
New Jersey might offer plenty of humidity at various points of the year and it certainly gets hot in NJ during the Summer, these snakes are not adapted to living year-round in the Northeast. It would never survive a proper Winter in the wild.
Monmouth County SPCA medical director Dr. Samantha Mammen told News 12 “It was really, generally speaking, in a good body condition, not dehydrated. Color was appropriate. It wasn’t too cold to the touch,” adding “it likely would’ve fared well throughout the summer months, but once the fall and winter came, it wouldn’t have survived.”
While 8′ is a large snake by any standard it is FAR FROM the large end for this species. During the 2026 Florida Python Challenge, the largest Burmese python captured measured 16 feet and 5 inches. They get BIG. This 18-footer was caught here in my home state of Florida earlier this Summer:
Suffice it to say, finding an 8′ python in New Jersey would startle anyone but this story at least had a happy ending with the snake being safely recovered and transported.