Police say they found something in a motel room today. They say it’s a particular something they’ve never quite seen before.

Canadian authorities found and removed 40 pythons from a motel in Brantford, Ontario. Two adults and two children were staying there, according to one report. The snakes were being held in plastics containers in an effort, officials say, to most likely breed them. Each of the snakes ranged from approximately 1 to 4 feet long. Local police called animal control authorities to tend to a situation they characterize as very much out of control.

“The snakes were not being suitably cared for and were in distress,” Canadian officials said. “The anxious officers called the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals who attended and took 40 pythons into their care.”

Pythons originate from Southeast Asia from such areas as Cambodia, Laos and even Vietnam.  More than 500, 000 were imported into the United States from 2004 to 2009. According to a report, it is thought that approximately 397, 655 of these reptiles were imported through Miami alone.

Another circumstance which occurred just recently near a reptile store in New Brunswick, an area of eastern Canada, has authorities reeling, too. According to a report, just last week, a 13-foot African rock python, weighing approximately 100 pounds, killed two young brothers as they slept in an apartment just upstairs from the store; Connor Barthe was age 7, his brother Noah was only 5 years old. The large snake crawled through the building ventilation system and strangled them in their sleep.

“The snake apparently slithered through a small hole in the ceiling that connected to the ventilation shaft,” a report said. “When it crawled over the living room where the boys were sleeping in, the ventilation shaft collapsed.”

Police say no arrests will be made in the most recent incident involving pythons in Brantford. An investigation is underway regarding the deaths of the two young boys.