Traps Set after Giant Snake Reported in New Jersey Lake
(Reuters) - In a scene that could open the film "Snakes on a Jet Ski," New Jersey animal control workers have set traps to snare a reported 20-foot-long serpent slithering through the waters of Lake Hopatcong. Tales of the giant snake brought the state Department of Environmental Protection to the fresh water lake in northern New Jersey - the state's largest at 4 square miles (10 square km) - but the mystery has only deepened, DEP spokesman Bob Considine said on Monday.
(Reuters) - In a scene that could open the film "Snakes on a Jet Ski," New Jersey animal control workers have set traps to snare a reported 20-foot-long serpent slithering through the waters of Lake Hopatcong.
Tales of the giant snake brought the state Department of Environmental Protection to the fresh water lake in northern New Jersey - the state's largest at 4 square miles (10 square km) - but the mystery has only deepened, DEP spokesman Bob Considine said on Monday.
"One person says it's a boa constrictor, another says it's an anaconda," Considine said. "We don't have any confirmation of this snake at all."
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While a pet owner with a permit is allowed to keep a boa constrictor in New Jersey, anacondas are prohibited, Considine said.Initial reports of the creature surfaced more than a week ago when a resident of the lake popular with motor boat enthusiasts and jet skiers said he saw the snake under a dock at his boathouse.
Local animal control has been asked to report "any legitimate" sightings of the snake - which so far have amounted to zero, Considine said.
(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg; editing by Andrew Hay)
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