Martinsville Bulletin, Inc.
P. O. Box 3711
204 Broad Street
Martinsville, Virginia 24115
276-638-8801
Toll Free: 800-234-6575
|
|
 |
|
|
| Twelve-foot snake skin found, but where's the snake? |
Allen Hopkins of the Moorefield Store area of Patrick County, shows the 12-foot-long red-tailed boa constrictor skin he found in Patrick Springs earlier this month. (Bulletin photo by Mike Wray) |
Sunday, June 24, 2007
By PAUL COLLINS - Bulletin Staff Writer
A red-tailed boa constrictor, about 12 feet long and a foot in diameter, may be on the loose in the Bull Mountain section of Patrick County.
Some people have been joking about the possibility, ever since the snake’s skin was found earlier this month in Patrick Springs, said veterinarian Dr. Lock Boyce.
Dr. Boyce does see humor in the situation. For instance, he would like to find the snake and put it on display somewhere. The Patrick County Administration Building might be a good spot, he said, but joked that some folks think there are enough snakes there already.
(Boyce, by the way, is running for the Peters Creek District seat on the Patrick County Board of Supervisors in the Nov. 6 election.)
But he and his brother, Fred Boyce, who has a snake-catching business, have been seriously looking for the boa constrictor nearly every day in the Bull Mountain area between Patrick Springs and Stuart.
He advises others not to pursue the snake unless they are experienced at it.
That is because if the snake is threatened, for example, by someone trying to catch it, the incredibly strong boa constrictor could quickly coil around the person’s chest or neck, suffocating the person, he said.
Also, although they are nonpoisonous, red-tailed boa constrictors generally have mouths full of teeth and could cause nasty bites, he said.
Boyce learned of the snake earlier this month when Allen Hopkins, an equipment operator with the Virginia Department of Transportation, brought him the snake skin he had found.
Hopkins said Friday he was operating a motor grader to scrape a gravel road near the intersection of Open Meadow Road and VFW Road in Patrick Springs in early June when he saw something that looked “out of the ordinary” about four feet from the edge of Open Meadow Road.
The object was “out in the open,” he said. “I thought it was a net balled up.”
When he went to look, Hopkins found the shed skin of a huge snake. Hopkins said it appeared the snake, besides being about 12 feet long, was bigger around than the top of his leg.
Hopkins took the skin to Dr. Boyce, who told him it was from a red-tailed boa constrictor. “He (Boyce) said it was a very dangerous snake,” Hopkins said.
Boyce said Friday he indeed believes the skin was shed by a boa constrictor that was in that remote area, and that this was not a hoax. He said the snake left a trail from where the skin was found going toward a nearby swamp. Such snakes love water, Boyce said.
“I am convinced that snake is still loose,” he added.
Boyce said he figures either someone dumped the boa constructor there, or it was someone’s pet and escaped. (As for the pet theory, there are some Web sites on how people can care and house red-tailed boa constrictors as pets.)
Boa constrictors are good at defending themselves, Boyce said, but they prefer to be left alone.
Although Boyce said the snake could be a threat to small animal pets, such as cats and small dogs, he thinks there is as much danger or more to pets from other animals in the wild such as coyotes and rattlesnakes, from big dogs and from automobiles. In general, whether or not a boa constrictor is loose, Boyce said he would advise owners of small pets to keep them inside.
Boyce said red-tail boa constrictors like to eat rabbits, but they also eat rodents and other small animals, even small deer.
A red-tailed boa constrictor is a “beautiful snake,” with its tan coloration, chocolate net-like pattern, salmon-colored scales on its belly, and its dark, rusty brown tail, Boyce said.
When he looks for the boa constrictor, Boyce said he takes his 90-pound pit bull mix dog with him to help sniff it out. He feels there’s not much chance of the snake eating a 90-pound pit bull mix.
“I hope we find it (the boa constrictor) and catch it alive,” he said.
Boyce knows a lot about snakes — deadly snakes. He said he worked his way through college milking rattlesnakes , not to mention wrestling alligators. Later, he worked for a United Nations program in Ghana in which he caught deadly snakes.
Red-tailed boa constrictors, which originate in South and Central America, usually stay within a relatively small area, but they tend to like rain forests, not arid areas or savannas (grassy areas with scattered trees). So it is possible the snake might be making its way up Bull Mountain, Boyce said.
Hunters and fishermen who go to the Bull Mountain area might want to use caution. When gun deer season comes in, hunters probably won’t have much concern because they will be well armed, Boyce said.
Boyce asked that anyone who sees the red-tailed boa constrictor call him at Boyce Holland Veterinary Services in Patrick Springs at 1-800-225-3564 or 694-3564. |
| |
|
|
.jpg)