An elusive 10-foot-long snake dubbed “Wessie” is giving a Maine community the shakes for the second time in two months. But not everyone is convinced the creature is even real.

Police have announced the find of a giant snakeskin near a Westbrook river park on Saturday. The skin was reported to police around 3 p.m. along Presumpscot River, near a boat launch area in Riverbank park, Westbrook police said in a Facebook post.

It is close to the area where, in June, two local officers reported seeing a roughly 10-foot-long snake eat a large mammal and swim away.

The creature, which evaded capture, went on to supposedly brag about its life on the lam in a parody Twitter account.

But because of a lack of photo evidence of the snake and the intact condition and curious placement of the skin in the police photo, some have suggested that it’s all a hoax.

Rob Christian, a herpetologist and the president of the Maine Herpetological Society in Millinocket, sides with that view. He called the snakeskin all-around unusual.

“Snakes don’t shed out in the open like that,” he told The Huffington Post Sunday. “Getting a full shed like that, even under ideal conditions, is really unusual.”

Christian, who said he’s spoken with local police about the discovery, noted that when snakes shed their skin in the wild they rub up against rocks and rough vegetation to help peel away the old skin.

“You’re going to find the snakeskin wrapped around branches,” he said. “You wouldn’t see a regular shed out in the open like that, especially a large snake like that.”

He was also suspicious of the stretched-out placement of the skin.

“Typically when you get a large snake, over four feet long, [the shed skin is] getting rolled up into a ball,” he said. “Most of the time what people will do is they’ll stretch it out and let it dry out.” That’s what he believes happened here.

It’s not clear who took the photo ― the police or the person who found the skin ― or if the skin was moved or touched before the picture was taken. Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

If this turns out to be a con, who would plant a snakeskin along the river? It could be a simple prank. But Christian and the herpetological society point to local animal rights activists who have been petitioning for stricter state rules for owning, breeding and selling animals.

The new set of rules, which state wildlife officials approved Wednesday, crack down on illegal ownership in particular. The change caused some reptile collectors ― including researchers ― to fear that their animals would be banned or become harder to obtain, The Kennebec Journal reported.

Christian believes the story of “Wessie” popped up with curious timing, just as discussion and argument of these rules was getting heated. He feels the story may have encouraged people to vote a certain way out of fear, since the elusive snake was suspected to be someone’s illegal pet that either escaped or was set free. He added that the kind of snake that produced the skin is likely not venomous or dangerous to humans, however.

He said a local animal rights group was behind the alleged plant; the group could not be immediately reached for comment.

Hoax or not, police are asking park and river guests to “remain alert, maintain a safe distance from any wildlife, and report any sightings of the snake to the Westbrook Police Department,” they said in their Facebook post.

They added that the skin has been collected and would be examined to determine what type of snake shed it and “what risks this type of snake poses to public safety.”

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Source: [url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2016/08/21/massive-snake-skin-found_n_11643882.html?utm_hp_ref=weird-news&ir=Weird+News]Massive Snakeskin Found Near River Where 10-Foot Snake Was Recently Spotted[/url]