WESTBROOK, Maine, June 30 (UPI) -- A Maine police department insists it is "not joking" about reports of a large snake seen eating a suspected beaver on a riverbank.

The Westbrook Police Department said in a Facebook post an officer patrolling the Riverbank Park area spotted the "large snake" about 3:30 a.m. Wednesday "eating a large mammal, possibly a beaver (not joking)."


"A second officer arrived and they both watched it swim across the river to the Brown Street side of the Presumpscot River where it disappeared in the thick underbrush," the post said.

The Maine Warden Service advised the department that the snake, estimated to be at least 10 feet long, is likely to "remain dormant" for the next few days while it digests its meal.

The department asked the public to keep a lookout for the snake, nicknamed "Wessie" and the "Presumpscot Python" by locals.