The 70-pound snake spotted slithering the streets of St. Pete was subdued Saturday.
The 11-foot reptile was captured across from Derby Lane dog track after a witness called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Authorities called in trapper Vernon Yates, founder of Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation in Seminole, who hauled the beauty back to headquarters.
"In my 58 years of life, this is the biggest boa constrictor I've ever seen," Yates said. "You usually see a body like this on a python."
Yates, who needed assistance from two others to move the snake, said it was unfortunate the creature could not be kept in the wild, adding nonnative snakes "shouldn't be running loose." A permit is not required for boa constrictors.
The beefy snake has been in the wild for some time, Yates surmised.
"From his demeanor he's been loose for a long time," he said. "He does not like to be messed with at all."
In August, 12 pythons were seized from a New Port Richey home by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. In July, a pet Burmese python escaped from its cage in Sumter County and smothered a 2-year-old girl.
The incident gave new urgency to a bill U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson introduced this year to ban such exotic species. The commission lists Burmese pythons and reticulated pythons as reptiles of concern. Licenses are required to own and sell them.
The boa appears to in good health, said Yates, who wants to find it a good home.
"He's been living off of something mighty well out there," he said.
It was the second large-snake seizure in two days. On Friday, Delilah, an 18-foot-long, 400-plus-pound python who fed on rabbits in an Apopka-area backyard, was seized.
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