Aaron Ricks was surprised during a drive in Scottsdale when he found a boa constrictor under his truck after driving from Mesa. On his lunch break, he noticed something hanging near the engine and thought it was debris. “I thought it was a grocery bag or some sort of plastic. Maybe I ran over something,” he said. But when he checked, he was shocked to find a snake. “So I walked back over to the truck to see what it was, and was totally shocked to see this big ol’ snake looking down and looking right back at me,” Ricks told
FOX10 Phoenix.
The Scottsdale Fire Department swung into action after Ricks reported his encounter, sending crews to carefully extricate the reptile. Despite initial skepticism, firefighters indeed found the boa constrictor and managed to remove it unharmed. “They were like ‘excuse me, what are you reporting?’ and they said we’ll send the fire department out. They came out, and I think at first they were very skeptical. They said they didn’t believe there would be a snake in the truck,” Ricks
explained to FOX10 Phoenix
, detailing the crew’s disbelief before the snake was retrieved. The operation involved dismantling the truck’s undercarriage skid plate, a step taken to securely free the unexpected passenger.
Once the snake was out, the Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary stepped in to provide care. Mason Brill from the sanctuary acknowledged the rarity of such events, noting the danger that animals face in similar situations. “A lot of times when animals go into engines, it’s never good,” Brill said in a statement obtained by
FOX10 Phoenix
. The boa constrictor, fortunately, only had a minor burn and was otherwise in good condition.
The search is now on to reunite the boa constrictor with its owner. Officials at the Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary are inviting the owner to claim their pet, offering the possibility to “If there is an owner that wants to come forward and claim this animal, they will have the ability to reach out to us, and we’ll try to set something up,” according to Brill’s statement in
FOX10 Phoenix press release
. If an owner does not come forward, efforts will be made to find a new home for the resilient reptile. The snake’s safe extraction and ongoing care speak to the efficiency and compassion of the local fire department and animal care organizations. The incident has also made residents, especially those driving through areas like Mesa, more aware of their desert animal neighbors, as reported by
ABC15
.
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