Hunt on for large, exotic snake in New Jersey lake Hopatcong

[Serious News]

JEFFERSON, N.J. (AP) — Traps have been set for a large exotic snake that animal control officers and a private reptile expert have been hunting for in New Jersey's Lake Hopatcong (hoh-PAHT'-cong).


The New Jersey Herald reports that the state Department of Environmental Protection placed traps in the lake in northwest New Jersey on Friday. Spokesman Lawrence Ragonese says there haven't been any confirmed sightings of the snake, which has been reported to be either a boa constrictor or anaconda.

Ragonese says the DEP's search isn't connected to the private search led by Gerald Andrejcak. The reptile expert said last week that he cornered a 16-foot anaconda before it escaped by slithering between his legs.

Lake Hopatcong is about 30 miles west of Newark.

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Information from: The New Jersey Herald (Newton, N.J.), http://www.njherald.com

[Serious News]

Reptile expert abandons search for Lake Hopatcong anaconda

JEFFERSON — Reptile expert Gerald Andrejcak says he has decided to give up the search for the anaconda he reported seeing in Lake Hopatcong nearly two weeks ago.

Andrejcak said he received a call on his personal cell phone from a blocked number Thursday evening, and that a man's voice told him to call off the search.

"It was a warning," Andrejcak said. "He said even if I caught the snake it would be put out that I planted the snake for a publicity stunt and I'd get charged with animal abandonment."

In New Jersey, a person convicted of abandoning an animal can face prison time, fines and community service.

Andrejcak said he didn't know who called him and that he didn't recognize the voice.

"If I had an inkling of who it was, I'd definitely say who it was," he said.

Andrejcak said he didn't want to "jeopardize" his personal responsibilities over the search for the snake.

"I've got a family, I've got a house, I've got pets, I've got stuff I've got to worry about," he said. "If I was a single guy with nothing to lose, I'd be like 'screw you' and just keep on going. But I've worked too damn hard for what I have to jeopardize it."

Andrejcak, who was not paid for his search efforts, has said he was first contacted about the snake by Hopatcong animal control officer Dale Sloat. Andrejcak — who works for nonprofit animal shelter Common Sense for Animals, and who Ragonese called a "so-called snake expert" — said descriptions he received of the snake and its behavior had led him to believe it was an anaconda.

He said that after he spotted the snake in a boathouse two weeks ago, he specifically identified it as a green anaconda.

But he said Sloat had asked him not to discuss the species of the snake in order to avoid causing a panic.

Hopatcong police spokesman Lt. Thomas Kmetz recently told media Sloat would not be available for an unspecified amount of time.

The state Department of Environmental Protection removed traps from the lake last week after state officials failed to find any "legitimate or credible encounters," photos, videos, snake skin, droppings or other signs to indicate that an extremely large creature was in the lake, DEP spokesman Larry Ragonese said at the time.

"We've analyzed this pretty carefully and we don't believe there's any anaconda or boa in that lake," Ragonese said. "There's no credible scientific evidence to suggest there is. We have examined the areas where the snake's supposed to be."

"I think we've gone kind of far enough with the story of the green anaconda in Lake Hopatcong," he said. "We just want to let folks know that they should go about their lives. There's no evidence at all, any scientific evidence, of such a creature."

Resident Tony Colantino reported seeing a large snake numerous times around his dock earlier this month.

Colantino said he wasn't the first person to report the snake, which he described as "light beige with big, dark tan spots." He said another person had reported seeing the snake by Capp Beach before reaching out to the Byram Cove Party Facebook page. After his own sighting, Colantino left messages on the Byram Cove Party Facebook page, through which Andrejcak reached out to him.

"I'm not the first person who put it out there (that there was a snake)," he said. "I'm not a snake expert, but Dale (Sloat) and Gerry (Andrejcak) said (at the time) they think it's an anaconda, and then Dale wanted me to give them another week before saying anything about it."

Sloat had previously advised people not to try to approach or threaten the snake.

Prior to the sighting by Andrejcak, Sloat told NJ.com in an email that he was skeptical if the snake had even been sighted.

"So far we have been told there were sightings, but no pictures. In the boat house the owners say they saw it the night before and called in the morning. The snake either was never there or it was gone before we got there," he wrote. "No officials have seen this snake, and you know how people exaggerate."

Colantino said his last sighting of the snake was on July 19, and he hoped increased boat traffic as a result of residents looking for the snake had driven the snake away from his property. Colantino said he was worried that if the snake made its way into the canals at the north end of the lake, it might escape capture.

Andrejcak has said the snake evaded capture by swimming through his legs in the boathouse. He has estimated the snake to be about 15 to 16 feet in length.

"I know what I saw," Andrejcak has said. "They can deny it all they want, but I think this is more political right now. They're trying to discredit me. That's fine, do what you want."

After Andrejcak's sighting, Tom Bush, the captain of the Lake Hopatcong cruise, said he saw a large snake in the water north of the Brady Road bridge on July 19.

"The head of the snake is about the size of the body of a duck," he said.

Bush said his boat got within 75 feet of the snake before it flipped and arched its back "like a serpent" and leaped about two feet out of the water before disappearing toward Liffy Island, located near the north of Lake Hopatcong.

Ragonese has said there was no credible evidence to the sightings by Colantino, Andrejcak or Bush.

"The person who reported the snake may have seen a large snake, but we don't believe there is any likelihood it was an exotic snake," Ragonese has said.
Andrejcak said he has heard from locals about other recent sightings, but that no one was willing to come forward over concerns that they wouldn't be taken seriously. Andrejcak said he was skeptical as to how much effort Fish and Wildlife officials had put into the search.

"I was one and only person who was willing to go out and help," he said. "Where exactly was the DEP and Fish and Wildlife?"

According to Colantino, DEP officials came out to his house earlier this month for "two hours and 45 minutes" as a result of media coverage of the incident, but they have not returned. Colantino said local animal control placed traps on his property that day, but they were removed after DEP arrived. DEP also never set up traps or wildlife cameras on his property, he said.

Ragonese has said if someone were to provide verifiable evidence of an exotic snake in Lake Hopatcong, the state would take action.

"If there was evidence to indicate there was a large, non-native snake, we would then take a look at the evidence and take a look at the creature and take whatever action need be," Ragonese said.

Before he decided to abandon the search, Andrejacak said he had become a target due to media coverage.

"People are hunting me down at work," he previously said. "Business owners (from Lake Hopatcong) are screaming at me saying they're losing business. Snake owners are screaming at me because they're afraid the state's going to try to pass more legislation. I'm sure there have to be local politicians that own businesses on that lake that are losing money. They're losing money so they say, 'discredit this (expletive) so it goes back to normal.'"

http://www.nj.com/morris/index.ssf/2..._anaconda.html

[Bobcat]

[Ratickle]

A 16' anaconda would certainly scared the crap out of you if you were swimming......