A woman checking on a vacant house in Biddeford was greeted by an unwelcome surprise Saturday night: a 3-foot python.

Biddeford police were called to the house on Sky Oaks Drive around 8:25 p.m. by a woman who found a large black snake that did not belong there. An officer identified the snake as a python and waited there until the Maine Warden Service arrived to retrieve the snake.

“It was nobody’s pet that they’re aware of, unless it came from prior renters,” said Deputy Chief JoAnne Fisk.

Police say they have no idea how the snake made it into the house, but it’s not likely the same snake that has been spotted multiple times in Westbrook and captivated that community. That snake – dubbed Wessie by locals – is believed to be a 10-foot python that has feasted on a beaver and been spotted swimming in the river near a local park.

Wessie the python hasn’t been spotted since June 29, when two police officers saw the snake eating what they believed to be a beaver before swimming across the Presumpscot River and disappearing into the underbrush.