Florida news anchor finds boa constrictor hanging behind house, livestreams wild encounter

ORLANDO, Fla. – On Friday the 13th, News 6 anchor Lisa Bell walked outside to find a very large snake hanging from her neighbor’s roof overlooking her backyard.

Bell came out and saw the snake, which was around 6 feet long, dangling from her neighbor’s roof. In fear of losing the snake, Bell and her husband took turns keeping an eye on it while they called their neighbor and wildlife trappers.

Wildlife trapper Bob Cross soon confirmed Bell’s worst fears: the snake was a boa constrictor.

Lisa’s 4-year-old son Henry summed up the “only in Florida” situation well.

Bell livestreamed the whole ordeal on Facebook, complete with lots of screams and commentary.

“So there’s a snake in our garden and it’s live for real,” Henry said.

About an hour later, Cross, resident wildlife wrangler with Critter Capture Services, came to get the snake. He quickly nabbed the snake off the roof, but not before being bit. Luckily, the snake was not venomous.

The snake, which cross estimates is 15 years old, had fishing line wrapped around its belly, and Cross said he was surprised the snake was alive. It likely had the fishing line wrapped around its body since it was a young snake.

Cross said the snake is doing fine after having the fishing wire cut off of it.

"The boa has been through a lot of stress and it will take awhile for it to calm down," Cross said. "It is amazing that the boa was able to eat and survive."

In the meantime, a black racer snake showed up in Bell’s backyard, too. Oh, and a dead lizard.

“This is my worst nightmare coming true,” she said on Facebook live. “I’m going to have nightmares tonight of this thing coming up through my toilets.”

It turns out the boa constrictor was someone's pet snake and had been on the run for two years. To each their own, right?

"Henry, you will never have a pet snake," Bell told her son.

Bell said she would rather see a bear any day over seeing another boa in her backyard.

Re-watch the whole ordeal on Lisa Bell's Facebook Live videos below.