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WMC-TV (Memphis, Tennessee) 18 November 06 5 ft. boa constricter found in student's backpack (Syan Rhodes)
Students often bring things to school to share, but it seems in this case, the intent was to scare.
Kids at Wooddale Middle School say the student who brought the 5 1/2 foot snake to school was doing some not-so-friendly things.
"The little boy brought it to school and he just started playing with it and trying to run people around the school with it so he was chasing people with it? yeah, and then till, he got caught, somebody went and told the principal," said 8th grader Andrew Holmes.
The principal called Memphis Police who took the boa to the animal shelter.
"When it was taken out of the backpack, it was very cold, so she now is basically getting my body heat to try to warm her body up," said Beth Garrison, an animal care technician with the Memphis Animal Shelter.
"A snake like this could be considered dangerous it could be like a loaded weapon," said Animal Services Administrator Phil Snyder.
According to Snyder, boa constrictors are not poisonous, but kill by squeezing and crushing their prey with their bodies.
"How? why, would a child bring a boa constrictor to school?" asked Wooddale parent, Cassaundra Horton.
No one with Memphis City Schools system was willing to talk about the snake scare , and wouldn't tell us how they disciplined the student, only saying that he was punished.
5 ft. boa constricter found in student's backpack
