'I didn't think it was real': Massive boa found in Florida yard shocks snake wranglers

Natalie Neysa Alund, USA TODAY
·2 min read
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A couple of snake wranglers got a big surprise last week when they went to investigate a serpent slithering through a Florida homeowners backyard.

A Naples homeowner originally contacted Rhett and Taylor Stanberry about a "huge python" in the backyard, according to the Stanberrys' social media accounts.

But when the couple got to the scene, they found something else in the grass: A 9-foot 5-inch long, 52.6 pound albino boa constrictor.

"You NEVER know what you will find in South Florida!" Rhett Stanbury posted on Facebook. "When we get there, we are greeted by this HUGE Albino (snow?) Boa Constrictor! This Boa was just as defensive as a wild Burmese Python, who knows how long it's been out there eating bunnies (and probably cats)."

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A post shared by Taylor Stanberry (McDowell) (@taylor2short)

Pythons, often brought to into Florida as pets and then abandoned in the wild by their owners, are invasive in Florida. Since 2000, more than 17,000 wild Burmese pythons have been removed from Florida – including more than 200 this year in as part of an annual contest.

"Honestly we did not take it too seriously since people misidentify snakes all the time and since they hadn’t seen it in a couple hours, we did not go look for it," Taylor posted. "Well they contact us again the following day and sent a photo of a big white snake in their yard!"

“I almost didn’t think it was real,” Rhett Stanberry said in the YouTube video. “That is the fattest boa constrictor I’ve ever seen.”

“He’s so fat he can’t get away,” Taylor Stanberry added.

The video shows Rhett Stanberry carefully pick up the big girl from her tail end and put her in a wheelbarrow.

The snake then repeatedly hisses.

“She is very defensive,” Rhett Stanburry said.

The snake, at risk in the wild because it cannot camouflage due to its lack of pigmentation, was taken to the couple's facility where they learned it was a female.

“We are putting this girl on a diet, she’s already a meany so I’m sure she is gonna get even meaner when she’s hungry,” Taylor Stanberry wrote in a reply on Facebook.

It will stay at the facility under the Florida Wildlife Commission’s Class III License which permits legal possession of non-domesticated animals.

Natalie Neysa Alund covers trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Albino boa constrictor found in Florida backyard: 9 feet, 52 pounds