Appetite Killer? 12-Foot Python Found Just Outside N.J. Burger King

Although some say too many cheeseburgers are bad for your heart, what was lurking outside of a New Jersey Burger King could easily raise the blood pressure of some as well -- it was a 12-foot python.

This python was found near a N.J. Burger King. When being transferred to a nature center, the non-venomous snake ended up biting a worker. (Image via WABC-TV video screenshot)

"If you had a bad ticker and God forbid you come out with a cheeseburger in your hand," John DeCando, the chief animal control officer in Paterson, New Jersey, said, according to WABC-TV, "...it would have been all over."

Pythons are sometimes held as pets and then released when they become too large. This one was slithering in the grass near the drive-thru of the fast food restaurant. A construction crew notified animal control about the snake on Tuesday morning.

WABC reported that authorities picked up the python with a "special pair of tongs," a fitting description given the image it paints of the animal found near a restaurant.

Gerald Zelenka with "In Touch with Nature," who helped remove the snake, said although not venomous, it does bite. In fact, he was bitten by the python when moving it.

Although no one else was hurt by the animal, Zelenka said the snake would have died outside on its own with colder weather coming.

Watch WABC's report about the unsavory find:

Featured image via Susan Law Cain / Shutterstock.com.

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