GLOBE AND MAIL (Toronto, Ontario) 02 March 05 Boa vanishes from Ontario Science Centre - Thief had key or picked lock to snake case (Jordan Press)
Toronto Police are looking for a snake -- a real one this time.
A snake that had grown up in the Ontario Science Centre was stolen from its home, police say.
Someone either had a key or picked the lock on the enclosure the one-meter-long red-tailed boa constrictor was in, Toronto Police Sergeant Adkin Holder said. At this point, police are looking inside and outside the centre, he said.
"It's too early to tell," Sergeant Holder said. "It could be anybody.
"We're just trying to see if anybody knows about it. See if anybody has a new pet at home." The snake is not considered dangerous and is not poisonous, police said.
Animal attendants at the centre last saw the snake in its glass case at 3 p.m. Monday.
The centre closes at 5 p.m.
Yesterday morning, they noticed the snake was missing during their regular rounds, spokeswoman Alicia Stanton said.
Its case is about three metres long, less than a metre wide and about two metres high, with only about six millimetres of space if it had tried to slither out, she said.
The reptile would have needed more than that to escape, Ms. Stanton said. "There's no way that would have been possible." Science centre security searched the building and found nothing, Ms. Stanton said. Police did a similar search with the same results, Sgt. Holder said.
On either side of the case are doors that swing out, Sgt. Holder said. The locks are the same as the type used in a desk, he said.
The snake was part of the Living Earth area on the lowest level of the centre, just outside of the rain forest exhibit.
Across from the red-tipped boa was another snake, which was not stolen, Ms. Stanton said.
The red-tailed boa constrictor came to the centre as a baby, Ms. Stanton said. A few weeks ago the snake was put on display, she said.
The red-tailed boa can cost anywhere from $199 to $350 at Toronto-area pet stores.
The red-tailed variety of the boa constrictor comes from Colombia and other parts of South America.
The snakes can grow up to 2.5 metres in length and live as long as 30 years in captivity.
They are usually tame if raised around humans and are properly maintained. If a snake has just been fed, it doesn't usually like to be handled and may strike.
Other types of the red-tailed boas like the Bolivian or Suriname can be more aggressive than the Colombian, but can turn out as docile as baby if handled properly through life.

NATIONAL POST (Toronto, Ontario) 02 March 05 'Important snake' stolen from Ontario Science Centre: Red tip boa constrictor: Exotic reptile could have been taken in knapsack (Michael Traikos)
Toronto: A three-foot-long exotic snake, the centrepiece of the Ontario Science Centre's rain-forest exhibit, is missing.
Toronto police believe the red tip boa constrictor was stolen, and could have been smuggled out of the building in a knapsack.
"They're not that big," said Dr. Hooley McLaughlin, the centre's deputy director. "They can curl up and easily fit into a small bag."
The science centre reported the snake missing yesterday afternoon, but police believe it was taken sometime Monday evening and went unnoticed.
Dr. McLaughlin said it was unlikely the snake, considered harmless and not poisonous, could have escaped from its Plexiglas cage.
"I doubt that it's loose somewhere," he said. "The cage had no exit points. When we examined the cage, it appeared that it could not happen."
The snake was the only reptile on display in the 10-foot-long, five-foot-high cage. A set of locked doors separates the snake from the public, but police believe it would not have been hard for someone to grab the reptile without being noticed.
"The key is not an exotic key or anything," said Sergeant Adkin Holder. "It's the equivalent to the kind that would open up your desk at work.''
Police said the lock did not appear to have been forced open.
The snake has been with the science centre for more than two years and was part of an interactive rain-forest exhibit. Often, staff brought the reptile out for the public to touch and hold.
"It's an important snake for us. It's a live animal that was under our charge, so we care that it gets back to us," Dr. McLaughlin said.
"You can't walk into a pet store and buy one of these," Sgt. Holder said.
Boa vanishes from Ontario Science Centre

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• ON Press x2: 'Important snake' stolen from Ontario Science Centre - W von Papineäu, Wed Mar 2 08:10:55 2005