Students find python hiding behind living room couch

A group of students moving furniture in a Brooklyn Avenue apartment last night discovered a python waiting for them underneath a couch.

The snake belonged to one of the apartment's former residents and was discovered when the students living there decided to rearrange their living room.

"We had the couches against the wall all year," said UW senior Peter Stone, who lives in the apartment. "When we moved the couch away from the wall, the snake was just sitting there."

One of Stone's previous roommates kept at least four of the large, exotic snakes as pets when he lived in the apartment, said neighbor Jessica Spalding.

Stone and his housemates thought all of the reptiles had left when the roommate moved out in early March.

"He had several snakes, but we had no idea one was missing," Stone said. "We had had incidents before where he had lost snakes and not told anyone. In November, my roommate's girlfriend found one on the steps to our basement -- totally freaked her out."

After discovering the renegade reptile, the group alerted Animal Control immediately. A Seattle Animal Control officer responded within 20 minutes of receiving the call.

The python was more or less inactive and appeared to be suffering from extreme neglect.

A representative at the Seattle Animal Shelter declined to comment on what would be done with the animal.

Spalding confessed she was startled by the snake's resurgence, but said that ultimately, the python was in worse shape.

"The really sad thing is the snake had been under the floor and the house for almost two months without being fed or anything," Spalding said. "It's really pretty cruel."