Florida Cop Wrangles 5-Foot Boa Constrictor: 'If It Was a Spider, I'm Out'

A police officer in Clearwater, Florida, has been praised as a hero after removing a 5-foot snake from a local business at 5 a.m. on Monday.

In footage of the incident, shared on Facebook by the Clearwater Police Department, Officer Matheny can be seen coaxing the "slithery suspect" out from behind the window bars in the business's storeroom. After untangling the snake, Matheny placed it safely inside a cooler before it was driven to a local vet for a check-up.

"Officer Matheny had to put her hands on this rascally reptile to bring it under control," the Clearwater Police Department wrote in the post. "You never know what kind of creatures and critters lurk in the night."

Red-tailed boas—also known as common boas—are a subspecies of boa constrictor native to Central and South America. In their native range, they can reach lengths of up to 13 feet, although they rarely exceed 8 feet, according to the Florida Wildlife Commission.

Red-tailed boas are extremely common in the pet trade, which is what originally brought them to Florida. However, so many pet snakes have either escaped or been released that the boas have been able to establish stable populations in at least one Florida county: Miami-Dade. However, the latest incident happened in Tampa, over 200 miles away.

Boas are non-venomous and instead kill their prey by suffocation. Without any native predators, these powerful constrictors can decimate populations of small native vertebrates, and also outcompete other predators for food, impacting local ecosystems.

Red-tailed boas can be identified by their grayish, tan or light-brown bodies and darker saddlebag-shaped bands along their backs. Those on their tails are more of a reddish-brown color, hence their name.

Although this species is non-venomous, it can still be deadly. In July 2022, a 27-year-old man in Pennsylvania was strangled to death by his 18-foot pet boa. The snakes can also pose a serious threat to mammalian pets like cats and dogs.

Despite this, Officer Matheny was unfazed by the reptile: "If it was a spider, I'm out. But I'm OK with snakes," she said.

Footage from the incident has been viewed more than 2,000 times on Facebook, with several users offering praise to Officer Matheny.

"Officers are my heroes in so many ways," wrote one user, while another commented: "Officer, you rock this."

If you see a snake, the best thing to do is to call in a local snake catcher or alert your local authority.