A surfer who rode the waves with his pet python has been fined by Australian authorities for taking the snake out in public after a video of the duo’s unusual adventures aired on local media.

Ivy, a jungle carpet python coiled amid some cork bark, is offered a dead mouse. “A large number of pets is not my goal, but a large number of pets gets views on YouTube,” Pasiecznik said.

The pursuit of invasive Burmese pythons in South Florida led to the alarming discovery when four females were captured at a ...