A Melbourne woman letting her two small dogs out was startled Monday morning by what they found: the largest snake she's ever seen.
Leisa Remsberg was letting her dogs out in her yard near Woodbury Road and Westchester Avenue when she noticed that one of them approached something large.
The green anaconda, about 9 to 10 feet long, was basking in the sun in plain view.
"My one dog ran right over to it. And the snake reared its head," Remsberg said.
She ran to a neighbor's house for help. Fortunately, that neighbor had experience with snakes.
Texas native Bill Motley held the anaconda at bay with a shovel handle and put it in a container until animal services arrived.
"I've dealt with rattlers, and copperheads and moccasins -- but never anything like that," Motley said.
It was taken by animal control workers to Incredible Pets on Wickham Road until Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials could take it.
A Florida Tech professor identified it as a green anaconda, nonvenomous and likely less than 2 years old. The South American natives average some 20 feet in length fully grown. FWC is scanning the snake for a microchip to check to see whether it's owned.
A green anaconda was found in the yard of a Melbourne-area home Monday, Feb. 1, 2016 and turned over to animal control officials. (Courtesy of viewer Matthew Scripter)