SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (California) 23 November 05 Police take boas from Fisherman's Wharf - Possession of constrictors is against the law (Steve Rubenstein)
Maggie and Rod, a pair of boa constrictors, have retired from active duty.
The 5-foot-long snakes, which used to work for tips at Fisherman's Wharf, were instead occupying new lodgings Tuesday at the San Francisco animal shelter on 15th Street after police broke up the act.
Acting on a tip, police and an animal control officer confiscated the snakes Friday and cited their owner, Michael Brown of San Francisco, for possession of wild animals.
"Boa constrictors are illegal,'' said Carl Friedman, director of San Francisco Animal Care and Control. "There were numerous complaints about this person, that he was scaring the hell out of people and creating a nuisance.''
Police Capt. James Dudley said Brown would stand on the Jefferson Street sidewalk and display the snakes, which were wrapped around his arms and neck. He would allow them to be petted or photographed, in exchange for tips in a tin can.
"We've never had a snake down there before,'' Dudley said. "Some months ago, we had a monkey that bit a child. And we have the Bush Man.''
(The Bush Man jumps out from behind his portable bush and scares tourists, in exchange for tips from onlookers.)
Brown dropped by the shelter to visit his snakes and plead his cause, but rules are rules. Friedman said Brown cannot have his snakes back unless he agrees to move to a place where they are legal and gets it in writing, and no more working the tourists at the wharf.
"If he can convince us, he may be able to get them back,'' Friedman said.
Efforts to reach Brown were unsuccessful.
For now, Friedman said, shelter workers will try to figure out when to toss Maggie and Rod another mouse. Boa constrictors eat a mouse a week, and it all depends on when Maggie and Rod got their last mice. They weren't saying.
Friedman said the snakes, if not reunited with their owner, will be given to an aquarium or zoo.
Police take boas from Fisherman's Wharf