Ball python on the loose: Kirkwood couple finds snake living in front yard

ATLANTA - A couple in Kirkwood is trying to tempt a snake. They found what they believe is an adult ball python slithering through their front yard on Rogers Street in southeast Atlanta.

Igor Malenky couldn’t believe what he was seeing. 

"I find a great big snake right outside my front door," Malenky said.

A python about four feet long was curled up on his front porch, making itself at home at the home Malenky shares with his wife Ellen Snyder.

"Definitely was not expecting a python," Snyder said. "I was like that definitely doesn’t belong there."

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The couple has three pets. 

"Initially I couldn’t find one of the cats," Malenky said.

They found the cat under a blanket. The ball python is non-venomous and native to central and West Africa, not Georgia. The couple fears it won’t fare well in this environment as the temperatures drop.

Igor Malenky says a python about four feet long was curled up on his front porch, making itself at home 

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"I just want it to have a home where it’s safe," Snyder said.

The snake gets shy when people show up. The animal-welfare group AWARE put out a space heater to try to coax the reptile out of its hole.

"The snake is not dangerous to people, it’s not dangerous to pets," said Anna Turkett, a snake-lover who lives nearby.

Turkett brought over some food pythons just love.

The ball python is non-venomous and native to central and West Africa, not Georgia.

"Then we put it out to see if the scent will attract the ball python out of its hole. We hope we can find it, contain it and have it go to a new home," she said.

And now the couple tries to tempt the snake, so they can help deliver the reptile to its own Garden of Eden. 

"Excited to get a zoo experience in my front yard," Malenky said.