FIELD FILE · WESSIEREPTILIANLOCAL LEGEND

Wessie

Also known as Presumpscot Python, Westbrook snake, Wessie P. Thon

Presumpscot River, Westbrook, MaineFIRST REPORTED: 2016REPTILIAN CRYPTIDS

A giant snake seen by police along the Presumpscot River in Westbrook, Maine, in 2016 – an escaped pet, a hoax or the state’s newest cryptid?

Wessie is one of the newest additions to Maine’s monster lore: a snake estimated at ten feet or more, reported in the summer of 2016 along the Presumpscot River in the small city of Westbrook, just outside Portland. Maine has no native snake anywhere near that size – its largest, the black racer, reaches about five feet – so the reports immediately raised the question of where such an animal could have come from.

The story began in late June 2016 with a single witness who described a snake “as long as a truck” slithering past a playground and into the river. Days later, two Westbrook police officers on patrol at about 3:30 a.m. said they watched a snake around ten feet long eating a large mammal, possibly a beaver, on the riverbank in Riverbank Park before it swam across the river and disappeared into the brush. Police posted a warning, and a state wildlife biologist suggested it was probably a large constrictor such as a Burmese python that had outgrown its owner.

Residents promptly named it Wessie – a nod to Nessie – and the “Presumpscot Python” gained a parody Twitter account, a Facebook page, a folk song and a locally brewed beer. Then, on August 20, a resident found a huge shed skin near the boat launch in Riverbank Park. Police measured it at just over 12 feet and sent samples for testing; at the end of August a University of Texas at Tyler biologist reported that the skin came from an anaconda.

Herpetologists were wary. The skin had been found laid out flat and nearly perfect, which experts said is very unusual for a naturally shed skin, and several suggested it had simply been placed there. No snake was ever captured, and a tropical constrictor would be unlikely to survive a Maine winter. Wessie remains an unresolved local mystery – part probable escaped pet, part possible prank, and wholly a piece of Westbrook folklore.

Type: Reptilian
Status: Local legend
First reported: 2016
Best-known location: Presumpscot River, Westbrook, Maine
Also called: Presumpscot Python, Westbrook snake, Wessie P. Thon
Reported in: Maine

What witnesses describe

A very large snake, estimated at roughly 10 feet long or more, with a head said to be “the size of a softball.” Witnesses were not able to describe markings in detail; the shed skin found in August 2016 measured about 12 feet.

Where and when it’s seen

The banks and water of the Presumpscot River through downtown Westbrook, especially Riverbank Park. All reports came from the summer of 2016.

Notable sightings

Late June 2016A snake by the playground Riverbank Park, Westbrook, Maine
A resident reported a snake “as long as a truck” moving past a children’s playground and into the Presumpscot River. It was the first report of what would become Wessie.
Late June 2016Police officers see it feeding Riverbank Park, Westbrook, Maine
Two Westbrook officers said that at about 3:30 a.m. they saw a snake around ten feet long eating a large mammal, possibly a beaver, before it swam across the river. The darkness kept them from recording video.
August 20, 2016A giant snakeskin turns up Boat launch, Riverbank Park, Westbrook, Maine
A resident found a large shed skin, which police collected and measured at 12 feet, 1 inch. Samples were sent away to identify the species.
August 30, 2016Lab says anaconda University of Texas at Tyler
Biologist John Placyk reported that tests matched the skin to an anaconda rather than a python. Skeptics noted that the result says nothing about whether a live anaconda was ever in the river.

What could explain it?

An escaped or released exotic pet: state wildlife officials thought a large constrictor that had outgrown its owner was the most likely source of the June sightings.
A planted skin: herpetologists, including the president of the Maine Herpetological Society, said the neatly laid-out shed looked “too perfect” and suspicious, suggesting someone placed it.
Misidentification at night: some locals suggested the police may have seen a beaver towing a log or branch through the water in the dark.
Maine’s winters would almost certainly kill a tropical snake, so even if a large constrictor was released, it would not have survived long.

Legend, culture and tourism

Wessie became an instant civic mascot, with a parody Twitter account (“Wessie P. Thon”), a Facebook page, a folk song and a local IPA named in its honor. The City of Westbrook leaned into the attention, and Maine cryptid round-ups now list Wessie alongside far older legends as an example of how modern cryptids are born.