Florida family finds 6-foot boa constrictor living in their attic

You never know what you’re going to find in the attic. As a child, I always feared my family’s attic. It was covered in mothballs, old toys that took on a sinister quality and worst of all—I heard there may be mice in there. One Florida family got the shock of a lifetime when they discovered an altogether different kind of pest in their home’s attic: a 6-foot-long boa constrictor!

When Adam van der Herchen complained of noises coming from the attic, his father, Bob, was not concerned. The elder van der Herchen figured the noise may be rats running around. When he finally decided to investigate, he discovered that it was not a rat, but a snake, hiding among insulation in family’s attic. Check out this footage of the snake slithering through the small space.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7zm0T1_i5s

“It took three and a half minutes for that snake to move into that rafter space…it was bigger than I expected,” van der Herchen explained to WFLA.

Animal Control attempted to remove the snake on two different occasions, but it disappeared into the rafter before they could arrive both times.

After posting videos of the snake to Facebook and seeking advice about how to remove it, the family was referred to Mark Lampert, a local snake trapper. After a two-hour search, Lampert was able to find the snake and remove it. That’s when it was identified as a Columbian red tail boa constrictor. Here’s a shot of the snake after it had been successfully removed, which was posted on Linda van der Herchen’s Facebook page:

In addition to the snake itself, Lampert found snakeskin in the attic, a sign that the unwelcome guest had likely been living there for years. (Snakes shed their skin two to four times per year.) Yikes! The family was told the snake likely gained entry into their home through nearby tree branches. If you live in an area where snakes are common, it may be wise to trim away excess trees to reduce the chances that unwelcome critters find their way into your home.