NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — Sssorry, wrong address!
A five-foot snake was found crawling on an exterior gate in the Upper West Side on Wednesday afternoon, and police responded to a 911 call reporting the reptile as it tried to slither into a basement apartment.
The snake was found outside 140 West 87th St., near Columbus Avenue, at about 8 a.m.
Officers responded and saw the serpent, which was about 5-feet-long, slithering across the gate. The NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit was called in, and two officers secured the snake and removed it safely to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals who were on scene with them.
Video provided by the NYPD shows one officer carefully grabbing the snake off of the gate with gloved hands and place it into a polka-dot pillowcase held open by another gloved officer.
The NYPD originally identified the snake as a python, but the serpent was identified by the Animal Care Centers of NYC as a two-year-old boa constrictor who they called “Severus.”
Boa constrictors, which are nonvenomous snakes native to Central and South America, are illegal in New York City.
According to the New York Daily News, Severus was placed with a “foster guardian” outside the city after the rescue.
It is unclear who owns the snake or where it came from.
