This post has been updated.

On the list of things you probably don’t want to see on a suburban roadway, a giant snake is probably pretty high up. But that’s exactly what one driver in Towson, Md. saw last night when he spotted a seven-foot-long python rat snake slithering around on the asphalt.

The Associated Press reports that Baltimore County police responded to a call about the python being spotted on the 1300 block of Taylor Avenue. The deadly mostly harmless reptile made its way into the bushes off the side of the road before eventually being captured by animal control officers.

And here’s the scariest part of the story, per the AP: “Police say they do not know where the snake came from.”

Yikes. Seriously, how does a python—the genus is native to Asia, Africa and Australia—snake wind up slinking snake a Maryland suburb? Is it an escaped pet? Snakes are horrible pets. If your pet python gets loose, it will not come running home to you or greet you warmly at the animal shelter. More likely, it will go on a horrible killing spree. It’s a snake, people.

UPDATE, 3:30 p.m.: Turns out it wasn’t a python. The Baltimore Sun reports that the creature skulking around the road was actually a five-foot-long rat snake. Rat snakes are found all over the world and are one of the most popular reptiles to keep as pets. However, as snakes, they are still horrible.