Public told not to approach boa constrictor on the loose

Members of the public are warned not to approach a boa constrictor which has been reported missing from a house in Lincolnshire.

Boa constrictors “kill by wrapping their long, thick bodies around their victims and squeezing until they die, by suffocation or cutting off blood flow to the heart and brain”, explains Sky News.

The snake was reported missing from a house in Union Street in Boston, Lincolnshire, at around 7pm last night.

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It has a white tail with grey, black and brown spots. The police said the snake “was likely to seek shelter somewhere warm, so could possibly have taken refuge in a garden shed”, reports the BBC.

The authorities added that anyone who sees a snake in the Union Street area should call Lincolnshire Police on 999.

The act of keeping reptiles as pets has become more popular in the UK and the RSPCA has said the number of creatures it is forced to rescue has also increased.

In September a six-foot boa constrictor was reported on the loose in an Essex nature reserve visited by hundreds of children every week.

“It’s highly unlikely it would pose any danger to a dog,” Daniel Hepplewhite, a reptile expert told The Independent at the time. “But it would eat squirrels or rats, other small creatures like that.”