Jim
Ringleader
Slithering surprise found in high-end motor home
By Susan Brittingham - McAlester news
Features Editor
Red-tailed boa constrictors can be found in Mexico, South America, and downtown McAlester.
Yes, downtown McAlester.
Well, actually, there was only one red-tailed boa constrictor found in downtown McAlester Tuesday, but isn’t that enough?
Grace Wallace sure thinks so, and after finding a 4-foot long one in her motor home, she’s probably the local expert on how many boa constrictors should be found in downtown McAlester.
“One was plenty,” she said, her eyes still peering around in case the boa had a girlfriend (or cousin or even a mommy, who knows?) still in the motor home. “I’ve never been afraid of snakes, but the older I get, the less I like them.”
The story of how Wallace discovered the boa constrictor in her motor home can turn the blood cold — rather apt, since snakes are cold blooded creatures.
“We had been gone for about four days when I came back to the motor home,” she said. “I kept hearing a beeping sound, and I started investigating on this table where I keep the phone. I noticed that the phone had been knocked off the cradle. That beeping sound was the phone. When I looked closer, I saw something that looked like a very pretty scarf. But I got to thinking ‘Now why would I have put a scarf there?’”
Wallace also got to thinking about how she doesn’t own a scarf with that kind of unique, “quite lovely” design on it. “I reached out and touched it, and that’s when I realized it didn’t feel like fabric.
“I knew right away that it was a snake, so I ran outside, got my cell phone and called my husband, Bob.”
Grinning, she said Bob Wallace thought his wife was kidding about finding a snake — again. “I was raised in the country and there were always rattlesnakes around,” she said.
“I wasn’t scared of them. Then, when I got a little older I got bit by a copperhead. And then, one day when I was grown I went to get in my car and there was a grass snake in it.
“After all of that, I know a snake when I see one, and this was definitely a snake.”
Bob Wallace raced to the motorhome while his wife, worried that the boa would get loose and be hard to find, stood guard on the inside steps and trained the bright beam of a flashlight on the reptile.
“My husband was amazed when he got here,” Grace Wallace said a few hours later as she and her grandson, Collin Williams, discussed the red-tailed boa constrictor while they sat in the snake-free motor home.
“I thought they were kidding me when they called and told me about it,” Williams said. “But then I got to thinking about it, and I knew they’d never call me away from work unless it was important, so I raced over here.
“What I saw — a boa constrictor in my grandparents’ motorhome — just floored me.”
The Wallaces called for backup, and soon “An animal control officer was here,” Williams said, adding that it took two tries to get the reptile untangled from its hiding (vantage?) point. “The snake was entangled in the lamp’s power cord. It took a while to get him untangled, and then my grandmother handed the animal control officer a pillowcase to put the snake in. It was unreal.”
Grace Wallace said that what’s really, really unreal is the fact that she passed by that snake an untold number of times, bringing in groceries and clothes. “I am just so glad it didn’t bite me,” she said. “I mean, I actually touched it, and it didn’t bite me. That leads me to think it’s someone’s pet.
“I’ll just bet someone will read the story or see the picture and say ‘Oh, my snake. You’ve got my snake.’”
Anyone missing a red-tailed boa constrictor can call the police department at 423-1212 and ask for the animal control officer.
After all, Grace Wallace said it’s a pretty snake, and since it didn’t bite her, it can’t be all bad.
“If ever there was a pretty snake, it was a pretty snake,” Grace Wallace said.
“But that doesn’t mean I want it in my motor home — or anywhere around me for that matter.
“I am so glad it didn’t bite me, all those times I walk
By Susan Brittingham - McAlester news
Features Editor
Red-tailed boa constrictors can be found in Mexico, South America, and downtown McAlester.
Yes, downtown McAlester.
Well, actually, there was only one red-tailed boa constrictor found in downtown McAlester Tuesday, but isn’t that enough?
Grace Wallace sure thinks so, and after finding a 4-foot long one in her motor home, she’s probably the local expert on how many boa constrictors should be found in downtown McAlester.
“One was plenty,” she said, her eyes still peering around in case the boa had a girlfriend (or cousin or even a mommy, who knows?) still in the motor home. “I’ve never been afraid of snakes, but the older I get, the less I like them.”
The story of how Wallace discovered the boa constrictor in her motor home can turn the blood cold — rather apt, since snakes are cold blooded creatures.
“We had been gone for about four days when I came back to the motor home,” she said. “I kept hearing a beeping sound, and I started investigating on this table where I keep the phone. I noticed that the phone had been knocked off the cradle. That beeping sound was the phone. When I looked closer, I saw something that looked like a very pretty scarf. But I got to thinking ‘Now why would I have put a scarf there?’”
Wallace also got to thinking about how she doesn’t own a scarf with that kind of unique, “quite lovely” design on it. “I reached out and touched it, and that’s when I realized it didn’t feel like fabric.
“I knew right away that it was a snake, so I ran outside, got my cell phone and called my husband, Bob.”
Grinning, she said Bob Wallace thought his wife was kidding about finding a snake — again. “I was raised in the country and there were always rattlesnakes around,” she said.
“I wasn’t scared of them. Then, when I got a little older I got bit by a copperhead. And then, one day when I was grown I went to get in my car and there was a grass snake in it.
“After all of that, I know a snake when I see one, and this was definitely a snake.”
Bob Wallace raced to the motorhome while his wife, worried that the boa would get loose and be hard to find, stood guard on the inside steps and trained the bright beam of a flashlight on the reptile.
“My husband was amazed when he got here,” Grace Wallace said a few hours later as she and her grandson, Collin Williams, discussed the red-tailed boa constrictor while they sat in the snake-free motor home.
“I thought they were kidding me when they called and told me about it,” Williams said. “But then I got to thinking about it, and I knew they’d never call me away from work unless it was important, so I raced over here.
“What I saw — a boa constrictor in my grandparents’ motorhome — just floored me.”
The Wallaces called for backup, and soon “An animal control officer was here,” Williams said, adding that it took two tries to get the reptile untangled from its hiding (vantage?) point. “The snake was entangled in the lamp’s power cord. It took a while to get him untangled, and then my grandmother handed the animal control officer a pillowcase to put the snake in. It was unreal.”
Grace Wallace said that what’s really, really unreal is the fact that she passed by that snake an untold number of times, bringing in groceries and clothes. “I am just so glad it didn’t bite me,” she said. “I mean, I actually touched it, and it didn’t bite me. That leads me to think it’s someone’s pet.
“I’ll just bet someone will read the story or see the picture and say ‘Oh, my snake. You’ve got my snake.’”
Anyone missing a red-tailed boa constrictor can call the police department at 423-1212 and ask for the animal control officer.
After all, Grace Wallace said it’s a pretty snake, and since it didn’t bite her, it can’t be all bad.
“If ever there was a pretty snake, it was a pretty snake,” Grace Wallace said.
“But that doesn’t mean I want it in my motor home — or anywhere around me for that matter.
“I am so glad it didn’t bite me, all those times I walk
) was out in the wilds on sunday, watching small furry things and birds.
