Giant boa constrictor found living in family's attic for years

SARASOTA, Florida -- Bob van der Herchen said it started with noises in the attic.

His wife believed for years they might have rats living among them, but when Bob finally took matters into his own hands, he came face-to-face with a 6-foot-long boa constrictor.

The homeowner thinks the snake might have been someone's pet that somehow escaped, WFLA-TV reports.

Bob thinks it is possible the boa squeezed its way into his home by slithering off some of the trees around his property.

To his credit, Bob's son tried to tell him it was a snake.

But he wasn't prepared to find the massive snake hiding among the home's insulation.

"It took three-and-a-half minutes for this snake to move into that rafter space," Bob said.

A snake trapper was called, and found it had shed some skin.

The expert believes the boa constrictor was there for at least two years, but could have been living in the van der Herchen home for as many as four years.

After much wrangling, the boa was removed.

"It was actually bunking in the rafter space right above the Florida room chair where my wife sits," Bob said.

The snake is now going to be rehomed to a more suitable dwelling.

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