LRT depot yields 2 large pythons in 2 days

Two pythons, caught from the junkyard of the Light Rail Transit 1 depot in Quezon City, are placed in a cage. (Photo from the Twitter account of LRT spokesperson Hernando Cabrera)

MANILA, Philippines—Two pythons measuring 13.2 feet and 10 feet were recovered from the junkyard of the Light Rail Transit 1depot in Pasay City on Friday and Saturday morning.

While he was clearing  a grassy area at the LRT 1 depot on Friday morning, tracks maintenance officer Ricky Tubongbanua said a snake suddenly appeared in front of him.

“I was shocked when the python’s head came out from the tall grasses. I thought it was going to attack me but it instead tried to jump away from where I was standing,” Tubongbanua told the Inquirer in an interview.

The maintenance officer captured the big snake before it could move to the area near the engineering building of the LRT 1 tracks maintenance center.

Tubongbanua said he had to ask the  help of five  co-workers to carry and transfer the 13.2-foot-long snake to their work station inside the depot.

The next morning, a more aggressive but shorter snake was found by Tubongbanua’s team at the same spot where the first python was caught. The LRT 1 officers estimated the second snake to be about 10 feet long.

“We think these two pythons are mates since we found a nest in the area with cat bones and snake skin,” Tubongbanua said, noting that they  found two small pythons inside the LRT 1 depot two months ago.

LRT spokesperson Hernando Cabrera said on his Twitter account that the snakes surfaced most probably because they were disturbed by the cleaning activity.

Cabrera pointed out that the  snakes were found in an area far from where employees are stationed.

The spokesperson said that the pythons will be turned over to the Wildlife Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources on Monday.

LRT officials said on radio and television earlier there was no way the snakes could have found their way into the trains.