Weird But True

16-foot python filmed slithering across home’s roof stuns community

It’s a terrifying reminder that snakes can also climb trees.

Spine-tingling footage captured the moment a massive 16-foot snake slithered over the roof of a family’s house in Australia right as they were tucking into their midday meal.

Video of the incident has amassed over 12 million views on TikTok as viewers admire the slitherer on the roof’s “python parkour.”

“Only in Australia will you see a 5-[meter] long Carpet Snake in the suburbs,” reads the caption to the clip, which was filmed in an undisclosed part of Queensland.

The footage shows the massive carpet python — which generally only grows to 13 feet in length — impressively slithering from a house’s roof into a nearby tree like a scaly monorail.

A 16-foot python filmed slithering across home’s roof stuns community.
A 16-foot python filmed slithering across home’s roof stuns community. lunatic67 – stock.adobe.com

The incredible sight attracted many oohs and awws, as well as expletives, from a family, who was just sitting down to lunch at the time.

“They’re freaky aren’t they,” exclaims one female onlooker.

“How will we get him away?” inquires a child, to which a woman replies, “We won’t.”

The sight was enough to rattle the famously reptile-inured Aussie old-timers. At one point, the snake pokes its head out of the tree and steals a glance at the onlookers, prompting an elderly lady to exclaim, “oh f–king s–t.”

Meanwhile, a man appeared to be perturbed that it was interrupting their meal, commenting: “Come on, your quiche is getting cold.”

The clip concludes with the python slithering from tree to tree as the bystanders marvel at how it managed to refrain from falling.

Another woman adds, “He’s quite beautiful.”

However, a little kid, flummoxed by the tree-scaling constrictor, inquires, “Is it a tree snake?” “No he’s a carpet snake, darling,” an older woman responds, to which the kid astutely asks, “Then how can he climb trees?”

Viewers had mixed feelings on the telephone pole-sized python’s roof-hopping.

“I miss five minutes ago when I didn’t know these exist,” quipped one viewer, while another wrote, “That’s an anaconda.”

“How does anyone make it to adulthood in Australia?” marveled a third. “I am not strong enough to survive this continent.”

“This is why I live where the air hurts my face,” reasoned one viewer.

“What in the chamber of secrets is this,” wondered another, referencing the fictional Basilisk from the “Harry Potter” books.

Others wondered how this limbless critter accomplished the feet of arboreal alpinism, which seemed akin to an elephant flying, per many viewers.

Snake experts say carpet pythons can scale trees due to their evenly distributed muscles, which hold them up.

“They reach out for a strong point, then they use muscle and weight to hold to themselves up before stretching out to the next spot,” Aussie serpent wrangler Snake Catcher Dan told Yahoo News Australia.

He added, “It’s quite common to see carpet pythons in trees, either soaking up the sun, avoiding dogs or people or hunting birds and possums. I find more pythons on the ground hunting than I do in the trees, but it’s not uncommon.”

Snake Catcher Dan also warned viewers not to get too close to these beasts, as while not normally dangerous to humans, they will bite if they feel threatened.

“Carpet pythons have 80 to 100 small teeth so a large one can absolutely cause damage if it gets a hold of you,” he cautioned.

This sighting is the latest in a long line of scaly interlopers to infiltrate people’s homes of late.

In an even more up close and persssonal encounter in June, a Queensland resident sitting on the toilet got the shock of his life after spotting a carpet python lounging on the top of his shower near a heat lamp.