CALGARY HERALD (Alberta) 22 September 05 Two-metre snake may be slithering through Banff (Cathy Ellis)
Banff's wildlife woes have taken a strange twist following the discovery of a two-metre snake skin shed by a boa constrictor that may be on the loose in the tourist town.
The skin of the legendary non-venomous strangler, which is native to much of Central and South America, was discovered on a vacant lot at the corner of Moose Street and Banff Avenue.
If a pet boa has been released or escaped, experts suggest it will likely head to the warmest place possible, perhaps heading indoors through a window opening.
Snake experts have confirmed through photo identification that the skin is that of a boa constrictor.
Shane Reid, head of engineering at Canmore's hospital, was cleaning up lots owned by the Calgary Health Region when he stumbled upon the huge snake skin in the hedges last week.
"I was very surprised. It's not the sort of thing you would expect to see in the national park," he said. "I've found lots of weird things during my years of litter picking and cleaning, and this has got to be the weirdest one."
Reid said he suspects the boa, which is one of the most beautifully coloured reptiles on the planet, is most likely someone's pet in the area.
He said the skin might have been thrown there, or blown away in the wind, although he did concede it is possible a pet boa has escaped from indoors.
The Banff RCMP detachment said it has had no reports of a missing or lost boa constrictor. Parks Canada wardens also have had no reports.
A boa expert in the U.S. said the non-venomous snakes have been found in various locations outside their home range, presumably escaped or released pets.
"The only location that I know where this snake is successfully established, that is documented to be breeding outside its native range, is Florida," said snake expert Scott Boback of Auburn University in Alabama.
Boback said it would be unlikely that a boa would be able to survive in the harsh Rocky Mountain climate for too long.
"I would guess the snake would not last the winter temperatures in Banff," Boback said.
"I would also suspect it would seek out the warmest place possible."
However, Boback said the beast spans 69 degrees of latitude in its native range from Mexico to Argentina, meaning it occupies a diverse range of temperatures and environmental conditions.
"Depending on where the purported boa originated, it may be more or less capable of dealing with cool temperatures," he said.
Boback said shedding frequency depends on how much a boa constrictor has eaten.
"My snakes that are fed regularly -- every week -- shed about every five or six weeks," he said.
"It is possible the snake would have been loose for at least a few weeks, even if it ate right before it escaped."
The boa constrictor, which lives in underground holes or trees, is a non-poisonous tropical snake found in Central and South America and often reaches lengths of up to four metres.
The boa's food consists mainly of birds and small mammals such as rats. They seize their prey in their jaws, then entwine it in their powerful body coils and suffocate it.
The snake skin is now on display at the Bighorn Library in nearby Exshaw.
Two-metre snake may be slithering through Banff