14-foot python discovered among trash at Baltimore's Gwynns Falls park

A 14-foot python was found among other trash items this week at Baltimore's Gwynns Falls park.

The snake was caught up in one of the area's trash wheels that work to suck up all kinds of refuse from the stream running through Gwynns Falls.

A photo of the large python was posted on Instagram by Cyril Appleby-Kellett, technical operations lead at Clearwater Mills, the company that manages the trash-collecting wheels. 

After measuring the snake, Appleby-Kellett described it in a video as a dead, 14-foot reticulated python.

"I don't know if it died first or it died later," Appleby-Kellett said. "But it washed down the river and the guys here at Wheelabrator left it for me. That's not AI. It doesn't smell like AI either."

The video shows the python being picked up by a cable and dropped into a pile of other trash collected by the trash wheel, which is known as Gwynnda the Good Wheel of the West. 

Our media partner, the Baltimore Banner reports that Appleby-Kellett is the nephew of John Kellett, the inventor of Mr. Trash Wheel, a trash interceptor that can be seen in the Jones Falls area, near where it empties into Baltimore's harbor. His job includes monitoring cameras in the trash wheels, automating their trash pickup and emptying the dumpsters.

Appleby-Kellett was emptying the dumpster of the trash wheel when he found the snake, which he said was giving off an unpleasant odor. "This thing could smell better. I think this thing was in the river for a hot minute."

He added that while his job sometimes can be "a little gross," it never stops being interesting.

"Pretty sad, really. It was probably somebody's pet and they miscalculated the responsibility in caring for a 14-foot python," Appleby-Kellett said.