A 12-foot bright yellow and white snake on the loose is enough to make your average Alabama resident shiver, just a bit. But fortunately the snake pictured is fairly harmless, albeit shocking.

Firefighters in Steele, Alabama, faced catching that snake Thursday after being called to the scene of a 12-foot python on the loose.

The enormous snake appeared to be an albino Burmese python, a non-native species that likely either escaped from its owner or was dumped by someone. The Burmese python is native to parts of Southeast Asia. They were popular as pets for many years, before the U.S. banned the importation of them.

The ban was too late for large parts of Florida where snakes that were either dumped or escaped into the wild have become a huge problem as they have no natural predator and have killed off large amounts of native animals.

The 12-foot snake found in Alabama Thursday was located in an industrial area of Steele, in St. Clair County making for what Steele Fire crews said was an “interesting 24 hours.”

The snake was given to the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

But the firefighters who were called to grab the snake gave a bit of common sense warning to would-be snake owners.

“If you can’t afford to take care of your pets please don’t turn non-native species loose into our environment!” Steele firefighters wrote on social media.