Golfers find two boa constrictors in one week lurking on UK course
The first snake was spotted at the club in Darlington after a 12-year-old girl's shot landed directly on the snake
Two boa constrictors have been found in one week in a golf club in Darlington, with the first spotted during a children’s golf lesson after a 12-year-old girl’s shot landed on the snake.
Listen to this article
The lesson on June 13th had been led by Aaron Cox, who said he used his golf club to inch the snake away from the course before putting it in a box.
He said he did the same when the second snake was spotted near the rough of the course on June 20th.
Cox brought the snakes to a local reptile shop, but sadly, they both died due to being “riddled with disease”.
The 40-year-old moved to the UK from Australia eight years ago and said he had been used to seeing snakes in his home country, and that it was not uncommon to spot adders around the course, but he had never seen such a large snake as a boa in this part of England.
Read more: London commuters choose boats and bikes to avoid sweaty journeys amid heatwave
Read more: Probe after 40 NHS staff accessed medical records of boy hurt in crocodile pit
He told the Guardian: “I’ve been over here for what, six, seven summers, and not once has it ever happened. And now we’ve seen two in a week, and now there’s three more just down in North Yorkshire.”
Boas, which are native to South America, can grow over three metres long.
They are not, however, generally deemed dangerous to humans as they are non-venomous and seldom attack humans, generally preferring to target small prey.
Boa constrictors can be popular pets and can live for over 30 years, but require lots of food and care, which can lead some owners to abandon them.
Cox says that he thinks their former owner left them on the course “because they can’t look after them.”
He told the paper it was likely that “the food bill started getting too big and they were unwell, so instead of probably taking them to the RSPCA or to a pet shop or to a vet, they’ve just dumped them and let them die”.
Cox urged people to think carefully about whether their lifestyle was suited to keeping a boa before selecting the animal as a pet.
“It’s a shame and a bit of a cruel act by whoever did it,” he said.
“I just hope they think about it twice before they do it again, or people who have pet snakes, think twice about what they do with them if they can’t look after them.”
The RSPCA has expressed concern about the snakes being left on the golf course and has asked that anyone with “first-hand information that shows these reptiles have been deliberately abandoned” get in touch to help identify who was responsible.