A group of bar patrons got a late-night surprise when they ran into a three-foot python on their way out of Hess Village.

Hamilton animal control was called on Aug. 7 around 3 a.m. after the patrons left the bar and found the snake slithering into some bushes in a lot near King Street West and Hess Street.

Initially, police were called, but the snake was handed off to animal control.

According to the Reptile Store, located a dozen or so blocks from where the serpent was discovered, these snakes are not dangerous.

The ball python is "if not the most popular species of snake, definitely the most popular python," said Jon Kendrick, business manager of reptilestore.ca.

They get their name because, when startled, they coil up, tucking their head into the middle - like a ball.

They're timid, Kendrick says, which makes them popular pets.

Because of its "handle-ability," this one was likely a pet, animal control supervisor Cal Burnett said.

But animal control doesn't know to whom the snake belongs or from where it came.

The escapee didn't come from the Reptile Store, Kendrick ensures.

"Again, thankfully, they don't pose a threat of any significance unless you're a small mouse."

Last week, a 45-kilogram African rock python killed two boys - 4-year-old Noah Barthe and his 6-year-old brother, Connor - after it strangled them in a New Brunswick apartment.

The snake had escaped from the reptile store on the ground floor of the building, slithered through the ventilation system before falling in the living room where the boys were sleeping.

"That snake, by size comparison, was 45 kilos and just shy of four metres in length . you're looking at a huge difference," Kendrick said, though he acknowledged the timing is certainly unsettling.

The snake will stay at the SPCA for another day or so before a home can be found for it.

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"I just want to emphasize that these animals, doesn't matter if it's a snake or a lizard or whatever, they all need to be - under the bylaw - in an escape-proof enclosure," Burnett said.

Fines for having an escapee pet start at $125.