JOURNAL-STAR (Peoria, Illinois) 18 February 06 Snake not a mighty python - Reptile found in Pekin apartment just a boa (Karen McDonald)
Pekin: The mighty "70 pound, 9-foot python" snake Pekin police thought they bagged Thursday at a Pekin apartment actually is a less-impressive 14-pound boa constrictor that's no more than six feet long, an official said Friday.
Officers discovered the snake earlier this week while responding to a noise complaint at 2028 Westgate Drive, Apt. 20, the home of Shane A. Hale. They confiscated the female boa, which was loose, after being called to the apartment a second time on a separate complaint. It was turned over to Tazewell County Animal Control, according to police reports.
"It's not the big, killer snake that everyone thought it was," said Doug Holmes, a Glen Oak Zoo herpetologist who rescued the reptile.
An apartment resident reported the snake's weight and length to police incorrectly. The residents said Hale, the snake's owner, had been trying to find a new home for it.
Holmes, who also is a member of the Central Illinois Herpetological Society, said he plans to quarantine the snake at his home and treat it for parasites, regardless of whether the snake has any, before placing it in a home.
"It will be well taken care of," Holmes said.
Arrested the first time police went to the apartment was neighbor Ronald A. Johnson, 31, of 2032 Westgate Drive, Apt. 2, on five outstanding warrants.
Hale, 32, was arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property when police responded to the apartment a second time. Hale, who appeared drunk, threw a bodybuilding weight out a window, according to reports.
It is not illegal to own a boa constrictor in Illinois, authorities said.
Snake not a mighty python