A six-foot-long boa constrictor slithered out of the window of a third-floor Vancouver apartment Sunday and was gone for more than 24 hours, according to the snake’s owner.
“My baby is missing,” Phoenix Crowther said in a Facebook post, asking residents of the Kitsilano area to be on the lookout for her beloved pet.
In a plea to an online group for missing pets in Vancouver, Crowther said she lives in a building at West 4th Avenue and MacDonald Street and that she noticed the snake was missing around 3 pm
“Our bathroom window was slightly open so I’m assuming she crawled down the fire escape looking for food. Boas love to both climb and burrow so she could be up in branches or down in the garden,” it reads.
“I know they aren’t everyone’s favorite animal, but she loves and means a lot to me, so please keep your eyes out.”
On Monday afternoon, Crowther told CTV News a thorough search of her building was being conducted with the assistance of animal control officers and the property manager.
By that evening, her pet had returned.
“I left some food in her enclosure with the door open and waited. I heard a rustle and she was there on my floor! Not sure where she came out of but she is back in her home safe,” Crowther wrote in an email.
Boa constrictors are not venomous and are popular as pets due to their typically docile temperaments, but they are carnivorous.
“Their jaws are lined with small, hooked teeth for grabbing and holding prey while they wrap their muscular bodies around their victim, squeezing until it suffocates. Boas will eat almost anything they can catch, including birds, monkeys, and wild pigs. Their jaws can stretch wide to swallow large prey whole,” according to National Geographic.
“They are excellent swimmers, but prefer to stay on dry land, living primarily in hollow logs and abandoned mammal burrows.”
The reptiles can travel as quickly as 1.6 km/h. They are solitary, nocturnal and described as ambush hunters. Their typical lifespan is between 25 and 30 years.
This photo taken by Phoneix Crowther shows her pet boa constrictor, which is missing.