Snake in a Shop: 19-foot Python Breaks into Store, Fools Police

A Queensland, Australia thrift shop got a surprise Tuesday after a 19-foot-long python fooled authorities into thinking the shop was burglarized and remained hidden inside for a day.

Police were initially called to the scene to investigate a suspected break-in after evidence of broken ceiling panels led shop keepers to believe that a person had entered the building through the roof.

"We thought a person had fallen through the ceiling because the roof panel was cut in half," Police Sgt. Don Auld said. "When they've hit the floor, they've vomited and then staggered and fallen over. That's what we thought anyway."

However, the only signs of breaking and entering pointed to the massive, 37-pound snake.

"There was crockery scattered all over the place, smashed, and a big doo-doo on the floor," snake handler Virginia McGrath, told the Australian Broadcasting Company. What police thought was human vomit was in fact snake excrement.

Auld said that the snake had a head the size of a small dog.

Snake handler McGrath was called to the scene after police were unsuccessful in apprehending the snake, which eluded capture and remained hidden in the store for an entire day before it was discovered, captured and released in nearby wetlands.

According to a BBC report, police suspected the python may have entered the shop through the roof, which was damaged in a 2011 storm.

More photos of the python can be seen at the Queensland Police Department website.