Escaped emus and a surprise snake: A wild week of animal control on Whidbey Island

WHIDBEY ISLAND, wash. — It’s been a wild week on Whidbey Island.

On August 14, a couple discovered a ball python slithering around in their yard.

On Thursday, a pair of emus showed up unannounced on someone else’s property.

Tammy Esparza, an Animal Control Officer with the Island County Sheriff’s Office responded to both calls.

“It was like emus?! Are you kidding me right now? We had snakes last week and now we have emus,” she told KIRO 7 News. “It was actually pretty cool to see them.

Esparza said she is used to calls about loose dogs or horses, or sheep or goats in the road, so she was surprised to receive two calls within a week about exotic animals.

The Ball Python

Esparza was sitting with her supervisors when the call about the python came in. Esparza said they all thought it was likely a garter snake. “I called the person that reported it on the way out there and he said, ‘definitely not a garter snake. I’ve lived on the island for over 30 years, and this is not a garter snake.’”

Ezparza said the couple had it contained under a plastic tub when she arrived.

As she lifted it, she saw with her own eyes—it was, in fact, a python.

“As far as venomous, I don’t believe that they are,” Esparza said. “Their bites do hurt once they get bigger, but they are not naturally aggressive so they’re not going to just be out to bite somebody.”

Nobody has reached out to claim the snake.

It is currently being cared for by employees with the Whidbey Animals Improvement Foundation (WAIF).

The Emus

Animal Control received a call Thursday after a pair of emus showed up in a couple’s yard.

“We got a text from the people who we share the property with and they said, ‘You have visitors.’” said Tori Hagberg, who discovered the emus on her property.

Her husband, Rich, said they often see wildlife on their property in the woods, but have never seen an emu.

“They look like dinosaurs,” he said.

“They were kind of sweet and harmless and they would follow you,” Tori said.

The Hagbergs helped lead the animals into their enclosed garden to keep them safe while they worked to track down their owners on social media.

“It was actually pretty cool to see them. They were young and sweet, and they didn’t have their big, long claws yet because they’re still young enough so they weren’t scary in any way and they were very soft.”

Esparza said it appeared the two got loose from their enclosure and wandered down a trail and onto the property. The Hagbergs said a neighbor showed up to claim them after a few hours.

“I helped the owner wrangle them back up the trail to their enclosure,” Esparza said.

While they aren’t a common pet, Esparza said there are a few on the island.

The Pelican

The “weird” sightings didn’t stop there. Earlier this week, another family reported seeing a Pelican on the shores of the island.

While the sighting is uncommon, experts say the birds have been settling into the island within the last ten years.

Steve Morgan saw the Pelican on Fort Casey State Park Tuesday, and said the bird seemed very calm hanging out on the beach.

The Whidbey Audubon Society said American White Pelicans arrived in the area in 2016 into the Deer Lagoon Preserve.

Deer Lagoon Advocacy — Whidbey Audubon Society

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