Mysterious headless remains of huge exotic predator wash up on UK beach leaving experts baffled
EXPERTS have been left baffled after the mysterious headless remains of a huge exotic predator washed up on a UK beach.
Louise Joyce had been walking her dog Willow along Ardeer Beach near Stevenston, Ayrshire, with a friend and their pooch when she came across the body of a large snake-like creature.
The 56-year-old said she noticed a man approach the snake first and prod it with one of the sticks he had been walking with.
While they initially thought the creature was an eel, on closer inspection they realised it was a snake.
Louise said the markings and colouring made it look snake-like, although the head of the creature was missing, as well as its stomach.
She said: “Our reaction was ‘God, you think you have seen it all’".
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Louise and her friend guessed that someone may have dumped the snake, due to either its costs or size, but that it had failed to survive in the cold climate.
After sharing the images on Facebook, locals were split on whether the creature was an eel or a snake.
Nick Davison and Rob Deaville of the UK Cetacean Strandings Investigation Programme ruled out it as being a marine species, but experts also say it's too big to be a native snake.
Angela Julian, co-ordinator of of the UK, is unsure what the creature is.
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While they noted it has scales that are "very snake-like", and that the they reckon it's a female, Angela added it could not be a native snake as it's "very big", describing it as "python sized".
Chris Newman of the said it was tough to pin down which specific species it could be but offered one idea.
He believes the creature could be a reticulated python, the world's longest snake species.
The non-venomous predator, one of which was recorded at being 32 feet long, kills its prey by constriction.
Native to Asia, the snake is one of the few in the world known to prey on humans, although attacks are uncommon.
The Scottish SPCA on the other hand felt the creature may be an adult boa constrictor, native to South America.
RANGE OF THEORIES ON SNAKE ORIGIN
Either way, how a creature this large ended up washed up on a Scottish beach remains a mystery.
Chris proposed some theories, saying: “One is that it was a pet that died and someone chucked it in the sea or a river and it washed up.
“We had a situation earlier this year where a large python was found in a river.
“I suspect that that was a pet snake that died and stupidly someone dumped it in the river to try to dispose of it.”
There was also the possibility that it was dumped by sailors fearing a fine or even imprisonment.
Certain snake species are legally protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES agreement.
Mr Newman said: “What seems more credible is that it was used as food on one of the container ships originating from Asia and the remains were dumped overboard before reaching port.
“If a container ship arrived in port with animals protected by CITES, in whole or in part, there are very serious repercussions, and this has happened not infrequently.
“If they have something that is not fully consumed before arriving in a UK port, it is dumped overboard.”
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A spokesperson for North Ayrshire Council, the local authority, said the animal was found on part of the beach that is not public land.
The landowner was contacted for comment.
