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NEW HAVEN REGISTER (Connecticut) 02 July 05 Surprise Madison visitor a real snake in the grass (Cynthia Baran)
Madison: The heart-thumping sensation Douglas John got Friday wasn’t caused by patriotic music or fireworks displays.
John began his Fourth of July weekend mildly enough, weeding the pachysandra beds around his home at 242 Scotland Road.
Mild turned to wild, jump-out-of-your-skin and run when John discovered a 6-foot snake — a Colombian red-tailed boa — nestled in the green groundcover.
"I was using a weed whacker," John said, "when I saw the snake’s head come up. I jumped back and quit.
‘Should I call the police?’ I asked myself. Finally, I called and said, ‘Please send somebody over to tell me I didn’t see what I saw.’"
Animal Control Officer Fran Fellows, with nearly 20 years of experience with all kinds of critters, and Officer Dan Hedges, the department’s resident reptile expert, were dispatched. Using long-handled tongs to prod the boa into a trash pail, they soon had it out of John’s yard and ensconced in a plastic dog crate in Fellows’ office.
"He (John) nearly had a heart attack," said Fellows. But the snake, she said, "was very cooperative," allowing itself to be nudged into the pail. "It’s very docile, probably someone’s pet. Looks like it’s eaten something recently."
What would it have eaten?
"Probably a rodent, or a squirrel or a rabbit," Hedges speculated.
Fellows, searching the Internet, within an hour had determined what kind of boa it is and learned from the state Department of Environmental Protection that it is not illegal to own one.
Ironically, a large boa constrictor was found in a yard in West Hartford Thursday. There was no indication the incidents were related.
Chuck Annicelli of Clinton, president and co-founder of the Connecticut Herpetologist League, who agreed to pick up the snake found Friday from Madison police, said the Colombian red-tailed boa is the most commonly kept pet snake. Its natural habitat ranges from Mexico to South America, he said. It is kept as a household pet in South America, he said, because it eats rats, which spread disease.
"This one is very docile and recently had a meal," he said. "It’s anywhere from 2 to 6 years old. It escaped or was released. It’s a good thing it was found because it would not have survived the winter. It would have died after the first frost or two."
The snakes can live more than 20 years and grow 10 to 12 feet long.
"Talk about beautiful marking," said Hedges as he peered into the dog crate resting near Fellows’ feet as she sat at her desk.
The snake’s head rested comfortably on its coiled sandy brown body, which boasts chocolate brown markings down its back.
"Make a great pair of shoes?" kidded Christy Hodge, the chief’s secretary, just one of the many who stopped by Fellows’ office to take a peek at the unusual guest. Most visitors were consumed with curiosity, but didn’t get up close and personal with the creature in the dog crate. "No one’s reported a boa missing," said Fellows, who had a very laid-back attitude about the day’s excitement.
"Yes, I’ve dealt with snakes before," Fellows said. "The last time it was a black rat snake and it bit me. This is my first boa, though."
Surprise Madison visitor a real snake in the grass

NP
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True Redtails

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