14-foot python found in Baltimore’s Gwynns Falls, and no, it’s not AI

BALTIMORE — Baltimore's trash wheels have collected plenty of unusual things over the years. A dead 14-foot reticulated python may be one of the strangest yet.

The massive snake was found in the Gwynns Falls, where the trash wheel known as Gwynnda, the Good Wheel of the West, works to collect debris.

Cy Appleby-Kellett shared the unusual discovery on Instagram.

"I don't know if it died first or it died later. But it washed down the river and the guys here at Wheelabrator left it for me. That's not AI. It doesn't smell like AI either," Appleby-Kellett said as he checked out the python.

Appleby-Kellett is used to seeing what turns up in Baltimore's waterways. He's the technical operations lead at Clearwater Mills, the company behind Baltimore's Trash Wheels, which collect trash and debris before it can travel farther through the city's waterways.

The work also runs in the family. Appleby-Kellett is the nephew of John Kellett, who invented Baltimore's Trash Wheels.

This isn't a Trash Wheel's first snake encounter. In August 2015, a 5-foot-long ball python was found curled up on Mr. Trash Wheel. That snake was alive and was eventually taken to a new home.

The find later inspired Peabody Heights Brewery to create Mr. Trash Wheel's Lost Python Ale, which debuted in 2017. The beer was created in partnership with the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore, with a portion of the proceeds supporting the Healthy Harbor Initiative's cleanup efforts

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