Bob van der Herchen of Englewood in Florida told reporters that his family had been complaining for years about the sounds coming from the attic. It turns out a Boa Constrictor, measuring around six feet in length, was living rent-free up there for around four years.

Family complained about the strange sounds coming from up in the roof

Van der Herchen told WTSP that over the last few years his wife Linda has complained about various noises emanating from the band his son often said the same. However, he didn’t worry too much about it, thinking it was maybe rats living up there.

It turns out if there are rats in his attic, they were likely the food source for a six-foot boa constrictor which had made the attic its home.

Son spots the illegal lodger

Eventually, his son Adam said he had spotted the freeloader through a hole in the utility room ceiling, leading Van Der Herchen to investigate further. Once the homeowner finally spotted the snake himself, he took a photo of the reptile and called Sarasota County Animal Control.

As reported by the New York Daily News, Animal Control visited the residence but failed to capture the snake, as it kept disappearing into the rafters before they even arrived at the home. However, the snake turned up again several days later and his wife made a Video of the reptile slithering through the rafters.

The family called Animal Control again. The officers told the family initially that their unwelcome guest was a diamond back rattlesnake. On a “cheerful” note, they said if a snake that size bit them, they wouldn’t even make it to the hospital – adding that snake will kill you.

Van der Herschen’s nephew, Chris Kelly, offered to help kill the snake, saying he had dealt with rattlesnakes while living in Texas, but again the boa constrictor hid and escaped death.

Snake expert to the rescue

Finally, a friend of his wife’s on Facebook, who watched a video posted by the couple about the snake living in their home, pointed them in the direction of Mark Lampert, a snake expert.

Lampert arrived at the property and managed to track down and capture the snake – which turned out to be a Colombian red tail boa constrictor – after several hours. Lampert explained the lodger must have been there for quite some time, as he pulled out an old, shed snake skin.

A neighbor told Van der Herschen she had recently seen a boa constrictor in her backyard and when she saw the reptile Lampert had captured, she said it wasn’t the same snake.

According to Van der Herschen’s Facebook page, he works as a bee removal and rescue person, but it turns out bees are easier to handle than boa constrictors. He posted the following video on Facebook, where he commented to say he was somewhat “distracted” from his bee removal tasks by the hunt for the snake.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED