By Gus Saltonstall
It is not every day that a boa constrictor is found on the Upper West Side, but that is exactly what happened on Wednesday.
The five-foot-long snake was found around 8 a.m. in the backyard of a building on West 87th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues, police said. The snake was first spotted by a neighbor who saw it crawling up an exterior gate and attempting to enter a basement apartment at the address, police said.
The NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit was called to the scene, and officers were able to safely remove the snake before handing it over to the Animal Care Centers.
Police originally identified the snake as a python, but Animal Care Centers told multiple publications that it is actually a boa constrictor.
It is unclear how the snake got into the backyard, and the investigation remains ongoing.
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Maybe that’s how we got rid of our mice
First, we have to worry about the eight inch spiders coming our way, and now …escaping boa constrictors. This is not the first time an upper west sider found a snake in the house. A few years ago, a woman who was a professional musician with a crowded bookshelf found the completely intact shed skin of a boa nestled in her sheet music. She had to call in police and the police called in The Bronx Zoo. I am not sure if they ever found the skin’s original owner. Maybe it was this guy!
This is what happens when u can’t remember the intercom number.
Hopefully it ate a few rats before getting caught
Could be helpful with the rats… then again, I know next-to-nothing about snakes.
UWS rats will tear this guy apart – he is lucky that humans got him first.
There are certainly no more rats in that backyard.
Those Emergency Service Cops are great!
I am in awe of the skill set required to catch one of those!
What’s a backyard?
This could be a great solution to the rat problem, unfortunately boas can also go for pets, humans etc. A crazy neighbor in the west village had one when I was growing up and it was pretty interesting, but definitely not a great pet!
Perhaps that’s what the almonds and pretzels were for.
THIS PUBLICATION IS GETTING WILDER AND WILDER. – NO PUN INTENDED?