HERALD FREE PRESS (Bolivar, Missouri) 29 August 08 Snake has been captured (Charlotte Marsch)
Photo at URL below: Bolivar Animal Control Office Matt Gilmore retrieves an 8-foot boa constrictor that was found at Market Avenue and Summit Street at about 8:45 a.m. Thursday after it was run over by a car. The snake is still alive and was returned to its owner. (Mike Burdette)
The pet snake that was lost in the vicinity of Market Avenue and Summit Street in Bolivar was found Thursday morning after a car ran over it near that intersection. The 6- or 7-foot boa constrictor had escaped from its owner either late Monday or early Tuesday.
The owner originally reported the missing snake as being a 13-foot Python but later told police it was a shorter red-tailed boa constrictor.
The snake was still alive after the incident. Bolivar Animal Control Officer Matt Gilmore retrieved the snake and returned it to its owner.
“Visually, it had a dime-size spot where scales had been torn off,” Gilmore said. “After I picked him up, he seemed fine. He was coiling and doing all the things snakes do.”
Gilmore said the snake apparently is housed inside a pan inside an outbuilding. The snake escaped, he said, when the lid on the pan and the outer door of the building both were left open just enough for the snake to escape.
The owner first called the City Animal Pound Tuesday about the escaped snake, and then Gilmore was notified.
The city does not have an ordinance specifically against having pet snakes in city limits, but it does say “wild animals” are not allowed. Gilmore said it is difficult, though, to specifically define what is considered to be a wild animal.
“Anytime an animal gets loose it is a restraint violation,” Gilmore said.
As far as any citations being issued in this instance, Gilmore said that would be up to Police Chief Michael Seibert.
“But I will be talking to the owners about the presence of snakes in the city,” Gilmore said.
Snake has been captured