Two-metre-long pet python named Gypsy missing in Delta, B.C.

On Monday, Aug. 26, 2013 a staff member from the Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge holds a young ball python inside their Fort Walton Beach, Florida facility. Pamela Williston called the Fort Walton Beach. (AP Photo/Northwest Florida Daily News, Mark Kulaw)

DELTA, B.C. -- Police say a two-metre-long ball python is missing in Ladner, a suburb of Delta, B.C.

The caramel-coloured pet snake named Gypsy went missing in a farmer's field on June 30.

Delta police say officers met Gypsy's owner on June 20, when the man was reported to be sleeping outside a Walmart with a large snake.

Police say the man and his snake relocated to their nearby minivan at an officer's request and both were "co-operative and polite."

Spokeswoman Cris Leykauf says ball pythons are not venomous and are a popular choice for pet snakes as they have a docile temperament.

She adds this type of snake is known to curl up in a ball when stressed or frightened, and in the wild their diet is primarily small animals such as rats, mice and birds.