PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. — An 8-foot python slithered into a Florida garage, startling an unsuspecting homeowner who was taking his dog for a walk.

Joseph Liscinsky tells the Sun Sentinel that he quickly put his 14-pound dog back inside his Pembroke Pines house after spotting the snake Friday morning.

Liscinsky says the python bit his fingers as he wrestled with it before wildlife officials arrived.

Pythons are not venomous, but they have a sharp bite. The snakes are an invasive species in Florida, where they are blamed for decimating populations of native mammals.

Liscinsky says he worries pythons could use a nearby canal to travel from the wetlands in the suburbs.

He says wildlife officials planned to euthanize the snake.