This is a sad story for snake and owner. Not only was his snake injured, but thanks again to the ignorance of others he may well have to give it up or move. Sad many of us have to treat our hobby like a dirty secret we feel has to be hidden from others.
KOCHVILLE TOWNSHIP (WJRT) - (07/28/06)-- Today's power outage in Saginaw County also allowed an escape of sorts. A pet boa constrictor was on the loose for awhile, before it was struck by a vehicle.
The snake is alive, but now that some neighbors know it's there, the boa's future is up in the air.
Boa constrictors are native to Central and South America, but people have them for exotic pets. That doesn't sit well with everyone, especially when they get loose.
The boa constrictor is usually in a tank in a home at a Kochville Township mobile home park. But with power out, the alarm on the tank that would normally tell the owner that the snake escaped wasn't working. The boa slithered out of the tank and onto the road.
Dorine Gibbon says her husband saw it. "He thought it was fake. It was on the side of the road on Kochville, and then he stopped the car, and looked again, and saw it was for real."
The boa returned home, but it appears it had been hit by a vehicle. The owner didn't want to talk about the incident and the snake, but his neighbor, Nick Apsey, says it's a nice family pet.
"Boa Constrictors can be dangerous, but they are not, they are actually a family animal, reptile," Apsey said.
Boa constrictors grow to about thirteen feet. This one is about eight-feet long. Constrictors are non-poisonous, but they can bite. They grab their prey in their jaws, then wrap their bodies around and squeeze until suffocation.
That's enough for Dorine Gibbon. She wants the owner to get rid of it. "The little children walking - it's a shame. And if that ever got out and wrapped around a child."
The owner has children of his own, as does his neighbor. "Very friendly going, just like a dog would be," Apsey said.
"He got out before. What if he did get around someone and then it's too late? If it takes its life, if it's a pet or not, it's too big for in the park," Gibbon said.
Our Terry Camp did talk to the managers of the mobile home park, who were surprised to find out there was on a boa constrictor on the property. They say they will look into changing the pet rules for people who live there.
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I treat them all with the same, or even more, care as I do My pit bull. To me, and many others as well, they are ALL family members. 
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