Landlord Found Advice Hard To Swallow

What’s 13 feet long, native to Burma and snacks on gerbils?

Answer: The python Clark Wilkins wants to sell in the worst way.

Wilkins, a Kennewick landlord, inherited the constricting reptile after a tenant moved out at the end of September.

Wilkins came face-to-face Monday with his unwanted tenant, coiled in a back bedroom of the apartment. Now he’s trying to figure out how to get rid of it.

Advice from a Kennewick pet store was a bit hard to swallow.

“They recommended that I put on a pair of welder’s gloves, pick up the snake and put it in a burlap bag,” Wilkins said.

He was advised to feed it something first, like a gerbil, to put the creature at ease and make it less likely to bite. The Burmese python hasn’t been fed in at least a week.

Wilkins is looking for a better idea.

“If it’s worth some money, she owes me for the damage she did to the apartment,” Wilkins said, referring to his former tenant. “Apparently, she’s left it behind as a little present for me.”