Megaconda

***Megaconda*** is the ninth episode of the first season of the thriller horror docudrama found-footage television series Lost Tapes. It originally aired on Animal Planet on February 3rd, 2009 and was directed by Douglas Segal.

## Plot

In Summer 2008, just after midnight, two animal rights activists named Scott Sumner and Evan Metcalf set out to investigate allegations of illegal animal trading in a local textile warehouse by businessman Ken Tobar. They had previously tried contacting Tobar through proper channels to investigate, but were repeatedly ignored and have decided to take the law into their own hands.

Armed with only a video camera and a crowbar, they lay a blanket over the barbed wire lining the top of the fence that surrounds the facility and climb over, and then break into the building with the crowbar. Unbeknownst to them, security guard Larry Johnson and German Shepherd guard dog Bishop are patrolling the area; Larry suspects Tobar of being involved in illegal activities, but has not questioned his volatile boss about it. However, there is one particularly large crate that Bishop barks at whenever they pass by it. Meanwhile, Scott and Evan immediately find wooden crates with stamps reading "LIVE ANIMALS" in the warehouse and grow increasingly assured that their suspicions about Tobar are true. As they move deeper into the warehouse, they suddenly see heat lamps in a corner of the warehouse, discovering non-native reptiles and a crate containing a live wild cat.

They are excited over the prospect of putting Tobar in jail, having found more than they had ever expected to. Suddenly, they are confronted by Larry and Bishop, who demands that they leave as Scott explains what they are doing; Larry threatens to call the police, but Scott mocks him, saying that the police would be far more interested in Tobar's customs violations than a trespassing. Suddenly, they hear the sound of wood splintering, and Larry demands to know who else is in the warehouse, but Scott and Evan claim that they are the only ones there. Larry reluctantly leaves to investigate the noise, but not before confiscating the tape with all of their evidence on it at gunpoint. Scott is upset at the loss of their tape, but Evan reveals that he has a spare tape with him.

After reshooting the scene, they try to leave but become lost in the confusing warehouse. Larry investigates the giant crate, which has been broken open from the inside, and finds it empty. While his back is turned, the enormous shape of an exceptionally large snake slithers past him, partially obscured by a large shelf. Bishop grows increasingly aggravated while, elsewhere, Scott and Evan hear rather loud hissing elsewhere in the warehouse. As they try to find their way out, they discover crates filled with ice and animal body parts, including the gall bladders of bears which are used to make pharmaceutical products; Scott also explains that the active ingredient in bear gallbladders has been synthetically replicated by pharmaceutical companies, making this a greater crime than normal on Tobar's part, and that he is now absolutely certain that Tobar will go to jail.

As they again try to leave, Evan hears the hissing again, and is growing increasingly worried over it. Meanwhile, Larry calls Tobar to tell him about Scott and Evan, but more importantly to tell him that whatever was in the large crate has gone missing. Suddenly, Bishop gets loose and runs off into the darkness; Larry hangs up on Tobar to follow Bishop. Shortly thereafter, Scott and Evan come across the crate as well, discovering an enormous snakeskin inside; this greatly worries both of them, as they now know that a snake at least fifty feet long is lurking somewhere in the warehouse. As Larry keeps searching for Bishop, he suddenly hears a yelp and runs over to find his dog, which has been killed and dragged to a corner by something. As he is investigating the blood trail, he suddenly hears the hissing and decides to leave as well.

After he leaves, Evan and Scott find Bishop as well, and now know that they absolutely *need* to get out. As they become more and more desperate to escape, Scott climbs on top of a crate to see if he can find a way out. He sees the crates that they passed by as they entered, but is suddenly grabbed by an unseen creature and lifted up and out of sight. Evan panics when Scott's crowbar drops onto the crate and he runs away, bumping into Larry and they try to escape. Larry leads Evan to a door and tries desperately to get it open, but it is stuck. A security camera captures an image of the enormous anaconda slithering towards them, and they just barely manage to get out of the building and over the fence in time, but Evan drops his camera in the process. Evan wants to return to get the camera, as it is their only proof of what happened in the warehouse, but Larry insists that they just leave; as he does, the camera captures a brief image of the anaconda slithering past it, unable to pursue them any further.

At about 3 o'clock in the morning, Tobar arrives at the facility, heeding the call that Larry had made earlier to assess the situation. Tobar finds Evan's camera, still recording, on the ground, and remarks, "It's my lucky day," immediately before he is attacked. Security cameras failed to record what happened to Tobar that night, but he has not been seen since then. Evan and Larry's testimony allowed the FBI to raid the warehouse and seize numerous black market animals and animal parts, but the giant anaconda that they claimed to have seen that night was never found.