The Exciting Conclusion to the Python Snake Running Wild in a Baton Rouge Shopping Mall

Melissa Locker
·2 min read
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In case the story of the escaped python lost inside the Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge was keeping you up at night, rest assured: The snake is fine.

The 12-foot albino Burmese python called Cara normally made its home inside a glass enclosure at Blue Zoo, an aquarium located in the remains of a former Hollister store in the Mall of Louisiana. The snake vanished from her residence on Monday, leading staff to do the only logical thing when a 150-pound python disappears—they shut down operations.

With the aquarium closed to visitors, East Baton Rouge Animal Control, the St. George Fire Department, and local police were brought in the tackle the case of the missing snake. When they turned up few clues, the aquarium's staff left out the snake's favorite snacks and hoped she would be lured in.

When that failed, they turned to plumbing, HVAC, and security camera companies hoping to use their unique skills at seeing into small spaces to see if the snake could be hiding in the mall's inner workings or inside the ceiling panels.

When Tuesday evening rolled around and Cara, reportedly "a very sweet snake," was still missing somewhere in the mall, the Blue Zoo sought more back up. According to The Advocate, that meant putting a call out for trained canines as well as local snake experts and pest control companies. They even bought motion sensor cameras, night-vision goggles, and infrared cameras to peer in to the darkest corners of the HVAC system, prepared for an all-night search for the nocturnal snake.

On Wednesday, per WAFB news, there was a break in the case. Workers had found "evidence showing the snake was in their ceiling." That clue helped the snake hunters narrow their search to the ceilings. Then at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, the snake was found inside of a wall in the mall. As cameras rolled, the python was pulled from the crawl space where she had been hiding out.

In a Facebook post a few hours later, Blue Zoo confirmed that Cara had been located and was being checked out by vets.

"We couldn't be more excited to share with you that the search is over!" the aquarium wrote alongside the footage of her capture. "Cara has been found, safe and healthy! More details to come!"

And with that, the greatest game of hide and seek ever played at the Mall of Louisiana came to an end.