Python Loose on Campus

“Monty” Python, the seven-foot four-inch Burmese python pet of North Carrick resident Cyle Sage, escaped from his cage in Sage’s room on Sunday, April 13, 1986, annoyed, Sage thought, at having had to spend two months at the veterinary hospital recovering from a rat bite. Pythons are not venomous, and Monty had lived in captivity all his life, but residents of North Carrick, who assisted UT police officers, and even Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Phil Scheurer, in searching for the snake, checked their own rooms carefully. When the snake had not been found by Friday, Sage concluded that it must have gone out the window onto the roof of the head resident’s room and then down to the ground. Sage was right, and he found Monty curled up in a metal pipe behind North Carrick. Monty, who had been an illegal resident of North Carrick, moved off campus to live with friends of Sage.

Citation Information

The following information is provided for citations.

  • Title Python Loose on Campus
  • Author
  • Keywords Python Loose on Campus
  • Website Name Volopedia
  • Publisher University of Tennessee Libraries
  • URL
  • Access Date July 13, 2026
  • Original Published Date
  • Date of Last Update October 10, 2018