SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — Sterling City residents can now breathe a sigh of relief after the Sterling County Sheriff's Office identified the location of a boa constrictor that shed a loose skin found near the town's courthouse. Here's what happened.

The snake-based scare started at approximately 4:02 p.m. after the Sterling County Sheriff's Office posted to its Facebook page that the shed skin of a large snake had been discovered on the lawn of the Sterling County Courthouse. Due to its size and markings, the skin was identified as belonging to a boa constrictor.

"Our janitor came to work yesterday morning and found the skin on the ground between his shed and the library," Sterling County Sheriff Russell Irby said. "Everybody was concerned and wondering if there was a snake on the loose!"

Boa constrictors are not native to Texas. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the typical adult boa constrictor is 10 feet long. The snake primarily feeds on birds and small- to moderately-sized mammals, which Irby said could make a loose boa constrictor a risk to livestock and children.

"If there's a large snake like that, if it gets out, it can attack small animals and even possibly small kids if it's real hungry," Irby said.

The sheriff's office contacted Sterling County Game Warden Michael Jaramillo for assistance in finding the boa constrictor. Jaramillo stated that those who wish to own a non-native snake must have a controlled exotic snake permit. On top of this obligation, releasing the animal into the wild constitutes a class A misdemeanor.

The owner of the boa constrictor eventually called the sheriff's office on the morning of Oct. 1 after seeing the agency's Facebook post and informed law enforcement that the snake was in captivity and not loose.

"The owner contacted us and notified us that he is in captivity, he is not loose and everything is safe," Irby said.

The sheriff's office then updated its original post that same morning, stating that the skin "blew out the back of a pickup" and assuring Sterling City citizens that there wasn't a boa constrictor on the loose.

News Source : https://www.conchovalleyhomepage.com/news/local-news/sterling-county/no-theres-not-a-boa-constrictor-loose-in-sterling-city/