A farmer mistakes an escaped boa for a fence post
· BehindLines newsroom
A North Carolina farmer found a boa constrictor that had been missing for about a month, after mistaking it for a fence post lying on the ground. The story was reported by UPI on November 6, citing accounts gathered by the local stations WRAL and WNCN.
An alert issued in early October
On October 6, according to WBTV, the Hoke County animal shelter had reported on Facebook the escape of a pet boa 6 to 7 feet long, about two meters, in the area of Calloway Road and Summer Lane, near Raeford. The shelter asked residents to keep their distance, keep children and pets away, and call animal control if they saw it. According to the station, the snake was simply considered lost, and its owner would be contacted if it was found.
The "post" that was not one
According to UPI, farmer Richard Wood was repairing a fence on his property, in the same area, when he noticed what looked like a misplaced post on the ground. "Lo and behold, it wasn't a fence post; it was a snake," he told WRAL.
Animal control said it would need about 30 minutes to arrive, UPI reported. Richard Wood therefore called a friend who raises large snakes to ask for advice, then, with his daughter Peyton, got the animal into a plastic container. "Peyton got it by the tail. I got it around by his head. He went right in," he told WNCN, according to UPI.
Back with the specialists
Still according to UPI, animal control officers came to collect the snake, accompanied by Matthew "Mountain Matt" George, who is looking after the animal until its owner comes to get it. The boa had escaped from a house four doors down from the farm. Its owner had moved away, leaving the animal with his father, according to the agency.
What the episode recalls
The anecdote is mostly a curiosity. In October, local media relayed the shelter's guidance: keep your distance and call animal control. WSOC added that people should not try to catch the snake themselves, and said it had escaped from an outdoor enclosure while its owner searched for it. According to UPI, the farmer nevertheless grabbed the animal himself, after taking advice from a keeper of large snakes, and animal control officers then took over. The article mentions no injuries.
The sources consulted do not say what will become of the boa in the long run, or whether its owner has been reached. Nor do they say whether the animal is in good health after a month outdoors.