Invasive red tail boa constrictor found at nature preserve

A red tail boa constrictor was found Monday in Robinson Preserve in Northwest Bradenton, Fla.

The snake, estimated between 7 and 8 feet long, is now at Wildlife Inc., an education and rehabilitation center in Bradenton Beach.

It is not known how the snake arrived at Robinson Preserve but it likely was dumped, said Damen Hurd, vice president of Wildlife Inc.

"These are irresponsible people that are allowed to walk into a pet store and buy them and dump them into the wild," he said. "It's possible that it escaped, but more than likely it was dumped."

Snakes are common pets, Hurd said.

"Exotic snakes are turned over to us at least several times a month," Hurd said.

A few weeks ago, a red tail boa constrictor was found in a backyard near U.S. 41 and 53rd Avenue West, Hurd said. Hurd said red boas are not going to look for a human.

"Most cases, they don't want to fight," he said.

Wildlife Inc. will either use the snake for educational purposes or find it a captive home, Hurd said.

"We will use it ourselves or go to a professional facility where we know it won't be returned to the wild," he said.

The red tail boa is an exotic, invasive species, said Melissa Nell, manager of the Programming/Education and Volunteer Division in the county Parks and Natural Resources Department.

"It is absolutely illegal to release an animal like that in the preserve," she said. "They are from South America. That is an animal that does not belong in the preserve."

Two Manatee County park rangers responded to the call to catch the snake, Nell said.

Red tail boas "can have a very negative impact and really hurt our native nesting birds or something can happen to that animal," Nell said. "We don't want people thinking we can release it in the preserve"

Despite the snake being caught in Robinson Preserve, Nell said it is not a native snake so people "don't have to worry about snakes like that at the preserve."

"We don't want people to be scared to come in," she said. "It is not OK to release animals like that."

Nell said she believes this is the first such incident they've had.

"We've been pretty lucky," she said. "That is due in large part to the hard work of our rangers and the work they do."

Claire Aronson, Manatee County reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7024. Follow her on Twitter@Claire_Aronson.

This story was originally published December 30, 2015 at 1:59 PM with the headline "Invasive red tail boa constrictor found at nature preserve."