PALMETTO, Fla. – An eight-foot boa constrictor weighing about 40 pounds was captured in the middle of a Florida road last week after firefighters received a call about the slithering snake threatening a group of peafowl, according to authorities.
Fire officials received a distress call regarding a “sizable python” that was “menacing” the peafowl around noon Wednesday in Palmetto, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said, according to Fox News Digital.
Lt. Christopher Pecori with the agency’s Venom One Response team was dispatched to the scene. Upon arrival, he identified the intimidating prowler as a Red Tail Boa Constrictor, which is not native to Florida, officials said.
“The Venom One Response officer promptly headed to the scene and recognized the formidable serpent as an invasive Red Tail Boa Constrictor, measuring about eight feet in length and weighing around 40 pounds,” the department wrote on Instagram.
The 8-foot, 40-pound Red Tail Boa Constrictor was “menacing” a group of nearby peafowl in Palmetto, Florida, fire officials said. (Miami-Dade Fire Rescue )
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue released video of the lieutenant “skillfully” capturing the snake in a tarp as the peafowl were nearby. Officials said the encounter showcased “the danger [the Red Tail Boa Constrictors] pose to local wildlife.”
This species feasts on lizards, birds, and mammals both on the ground and in trees, according to the University of Florida Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation (FWC).
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The boa constrictor was removed from the residential area and turned over to FWC for “further processing,” fire officials said.
The large snake is native to Central and South America but appears to have been breeding in Florida for at least 10 years, according to FWC, reported Fox News Digital.
On its website, FWC said the snake was introduced in southern Florida, likely as a result of “the unethical and illegal release of pet snakes,” and has established a population in the local region.
