NEW PALESTINE, Ind. (WTHR) — A large snake was found on the loose in New Palestine over the weekend.
The snake was seen slithering around town near the Seifert Creek addition located in the center of town.
"Big freaking snake. I'm outta here," you hear a woman comment as she records a large snake in a tree in a New Palestine nature park.
"Where's a stick?" someone else asks.
"Don't you dare," the first woman tells her.
Sandi Whitaker might have captured a large snake on video while out for a walk with her daughters on Sunday, but she had no interest in capturing it any other way, after the trio saw the snake in a tree in Seifert Creek Nature Park.
"We went around the bend and there was the snake just hanging from the tree," said Whitaker. "One of my other daughters wanted to get a stick because she wanted to bring it home to her dad and I was like, 'No we're not'."
"I wasn't scared, but I was just kind of surprised because it was so long and so big and we had never seen anything like that here," said Whitaker's daughter Kelli.
Eyewitness News sent the video to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources to see if they could identify the type of snake this family saw.
"I think it was probably about six feet long, I mean, it was, it's tall. It's taller than me. I'm 5'10"," said Kellie Whitaker.
According to the DNR, the Whitaker's ran into a gray ratsnake found across much of the state.
A bite from a ratsnake isn't poisonous, but they are constrictors and popular with farmers because they eat rodents.
"I really don't know anything about snakes except that I don't want to be around them," said Whitaker, who explained she warned her neighbors just in case the snake was dangerous.
"I think most people would have been scared," said Kelli Whitaker.
It's uncertain whether this snake is someone's pet, however, Hancock County Animal Control said it very well could be a wild snake living in the park.
Those who happen to come across the snake are encouraged to stay away and call Hancock County Animal Control at 317-447-4367.