Missing cat may have been snake's snack

Days after a Burmese python burst trying to swallow an alligator in Florida, another python is believed to have swallowed a cherished pet – a Siamese cat named Frances.

The year-old feline vanished last week from his owner’s home in Miami Gardens, but his whereabouts were possibly revealed after a snake expert said Frances could be the bulge inside a 12-foot-long Burmese python discovered on the family’s property.

“Poor baby. He was my favourite cat. I know Siamese (cats) are supposed to be distant, but he slept in my bed and everything,” said a distraught Elidia Rodriguez, the cat’s owner.

The snake was captured and taken to a nature preserve, where it will live in a glass cage.

Earlier this month, a 13-foot Burmese python had a run-in with a six foot American alligator in Everglades National Park, and neither animal survived. The python exploded as it tried to swallow the alligator.

Many pythons, which are native to Asia and not Florida, end up in the wild after being abandoned by their owners once they grow too big to handle.

Experts say the snakes are making their way into the open in search of dry ground after the series of storms and hurricanes that have ravaged Florida over the past few weeks.

No one saw how Frances, named after one of last year’s hurricanes, apparently ended up in the python’s grip. Rodriguez learned of the monster snake by chance on Sunday.

A man whose stolen car was abandoned in the woods behind Rodriguez’s home came by to look for his wallet in the vehicle. He found the snake instead and ran over to Rodriguez, who called the police.

It took about 10 minutes for rescue workers to trap the brown-and-black snake in a king-size pillowcase.