Hunt on for large, exotic snake in New Jersey lake

JEFFERSON, N.J. (AP) - Traps have been set amid reports of a large exotic snake that animal control officers and a private reptile expert have been hunting for in New Jersey's Lake Hopatcong (hoh-PAHT'-cong).

Local animal control officers placed traps in the lake in northwest New Jersey last week. State Department of Environmental Protection spokesman Larry Ragonese says there haven't been any confirmed sightings of the snake. It has been reported to be either a boa constrictor or anaconda.

Ragonese says the DEP's search isn't connected to the private search led by Gerald Andrejcak, who works for a local animal rescue.

Andrejcak says he saw a snake that he identified as an anaconda and estimated to be about 16-feet long. He says he cornered it last week before it escaped by slithering between his legs.

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