Two firefighters in the US successfully rescued a 6-foot pet boa constrictor after it escaped from its enclosure and got stuck in the side panel of a kitchen cabinet. The City of Herrin Fire Department said two units responded to a home after they received a report of a pet boa snake stuck in a wall Wednesday morning. The snake named Nagini had been stuck in the side panel of a kitchen cabinet for about 12 hours.
The firefighters disassembled the cabinet so the owner could get the snake. The snake was returned safely to its enclosure with more secure measures.
''Squad 1 and car 1 responded to a report of a pet snake stuck in a wall this morning. Upon arrival, crews found Nagini (a 6ft Boa) had been stuck in the side panel of a kitchen cabinet for approximately 12 hours after escaping her enclosure. FFs Lamb and Blake were able to disassemble the cabinet so the owner could get the snake. No damage was done to the property, and Nagini was returned safely to her enclosure,'' wrote the City of Herrin Fire Department while sharing a few pics of the rescue operation on Facebook.
See the post here
In the comments section, the department added, ''The picture of the enclosure is from the side, it is much larger than it looks. Also, the owner had approx. 15lbs of weight on the top, and the snake pushed it off. Have taken extra measures now.''
After the rescue, snake owner Lorelei Hills told Kfvs12, ''I am so incredibly thankful for the Herrin Fire Department like I would just love to shout them out, they are amazing. I was not for sure if they would help or whether I would get charged for it or not, but they just came, were super vigilant about it, were very calm--which I felt kept me calm.''
Notably, boa constrictors are large, non-venomous serpents found in tropical South America and parts of Central America that are often kept as pets in some households, according to Newsweek.
In a similar incident of snake rescue, an Eastern brown snake was spotted hiding inside a bathroom scale in a house in Australia. A video of the rescue was shared on Facebook by Barossa Reptile Service which shows a snake catcher opening the scale, prompting the reptile to slither out of it. The catcher then held the snake with his bare hands and put it in a black bag to take it safely out of the house.