Google search takes hours - for missing office snake

NEW YORK - A python went missing over the weekend in the Manhattan offices of the world's top Internet search engine, prompting an all-out snakehunt.

What? They couldn't just Google it?

Using old-fashioned tools, like eyes, people at the company's enormous building searched for the 3-foot-long slithering fugitive. Considering they had 300,000 square feet to cover, the Google geeks could have met their match.

But finally, a search team found the limbless lingerer, known as Kaiser, Monday night in the office.

"A snake was lost, it was not an April Fool's joke. It was found last night," said Ellen West, a spokeswoman for the company. She declined to reveal specifics about where in the office Kaiser was discovered.

She also declined to say exactly how the snake got there, but assured interested parties that it had been returned to its owner's home. "The snake has left the building," she said.

Valleywag, a "tech gossip" Web site, posted what it called an "exclusive" photo of a missing snake flier, complete with a photo of a reptile. It said the flier had been circulated in the Google office.

The flier described the gliding lollygagger as "non-venomous" and "not dangerous," brown and gray, and responsive to the name "Kaiser." It also advised people not to touch or pick up the creature.

Located a few blocks west of Union Square, the Google building stretches from Eighth to Ninth avenues and from 15th to 16th streets.

Dubbed the "Googleplex," it offers a relaxed workspace, built around a team concept that has people sharing offices and cubicles connected in groups. There's a cafeteria, a game room and snack stations throughout the facility.

Google is headquartered in Mountain View, Calif. Its New York office has over 500 employees.

For a while, it had at least one other resident.

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On the Net: http://valleywag.com/