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DAILY ENTERPRISE (Bastrop, Louisiana) 16 November 07 Will someone step forward and claim snake? (Wes Helbling)

Jack Caughley got the surprise of his life this weekend when a snake measuring seven and a half feet long slithered into his front yard.

"I had just cut the grass, and I looked out the front door and saw my cat looking at something kind of funny," Caughley said.

There on his freshly manicured lawn, in the middle of residential Elmhurst Drive, lurked a South American boa constrictor.

His wife called 9-1-1 and then Bastrop Animal Control. When the agent arrived, however, his "snake stick" for capturing the animal was too small.

"He took one look at the snake and said, 'I didn't know it was a monster!'" Caughley said.

While motorists paused to gawk at the unusual creature, Caughley got a large net and captured the snake himself before it could devour one of his ten pet cats.

Caughley brought the snake to Melton Veterinary Hospital, where Dr. Glenn Melton and his staff are keeping it safely confined until a permanent home can be found.

"It's obviously someone's pet," Melton said. "We'd like to get it back to its rightful owner."

Boa constrictors are native to Central and South America, but are popular pets in North America and Europe.

Popular, that is, until they outgrow their owners. When the hospital staff looked into donating the snake to the Louisiana Purchase Gardens and Zoo, they were told the zoo gets more "donations" from disenchanted pet owners than it can handle.

Dr. Brian Barton with Melton Hospital said he isn't sure what type of boa they have, but estimates it to be five to seven years old.

"You certainly don't want this running around your neighborhood," Barton said.

That's because boas are in the habit of eating small animals, including cats and anything else that will fit in their mouths. They will eat rats and rabbits in captivity.

"They make good pets if you work with them from a young age and handle them every day," Barton said. "But they're like any other wild animal: You can't fully trust them."

And how does one handle a boa constrictor? Very carefully.

Boas aren't venomous, but they've got a bite powerful enough to crunch bones and sleek, muscular coils to strangle the life out of their victims. Barton said it's best to feed a pet boa frozen rats or chicken. They're less likely to bite their owners if they learn not to associate movement with food.

"They need to eat the whole animal, bones and all, because they get calcium and phosphorous from the bones," Barton explained.

Bastrop's newest addition to the community doesn't seem very ferocious these days. Barton said this snake is docile because, as a cold blooded animal of tropical origins, the Louisiana climate has slowed down its metabolism.

Could a tropical serpent survive in the Louisiana wilderness? Barton said it was possible, noting an epidemic of pythons and boas in Florida that originated with pet owners releasing their animals.

Melton said he treats reptiles when owners bring them to his clinic.

"We don't routinely keep snakes, but we do see them from time to time," Melton said. "It's not something we necessarily go looking for."
Will someone step forward and claim snake?

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