This is a sad article I read a couple weeks ago and have been meaning to post. The guy seems to really love the snake. The one thing that confused me here is I dont ever recall a situation where a snake cannot get out from somewhere it crawls into? Maybe it doesnt come out when we want it to..but they dont seem to get stuck? I think he should have put a heat source on the seat, then when the heater core cooled off in the dash, the snake would have come out looking for the new source of warmth...but I guess hindsight is 20-20 - right? I hope the snake is ok, but it doesnt sound good.
Courant.com
Snake trapped behind auto dashboard now on respirator
Associated Press
March 1, 2008
NEW LONDON, Conn.
First, an auto repair shop helped Cami the boa constrictor. Now it's a veterinarian.
Left for a few minutes in Ryan Blackwood's car, his 9-foot boa constrictor wrapped herself around the heater box under the dashboard, possibly looking for warmth. Blackwood disassembled the dashboard, vainly trying to reach his pet.
Friday next morning, when he could find an open service station, Blackwood took his car in and explained the problem.
A technician stepped in after a colleague who was first assigned balked at working around a snake. The auto dealership charged Blackwood $75.
Hearing a faint heartbeat in his reptile friend, Blackwood, a contractor for Lockheed Martin at Groton-New London Airport, took her to a Rhode Island veterinarian who specializes in caring for reptiles.
Cami is now on a respirator, Blackwood said, and her prognosis isn't great.
"Her heartbeat did get a little stronger," he said.
Cami, who is familiar with the car from traveling around the country with Blackwood over the past three years, is usually put in a crate on long drives. For short hops, as on the day she got into trouble, Cami would hang out on a blanket on the front passenger seat.
"Usually, she's smart about not getting caught someplace she can't get back out of," Blackwood said.
