Walkers find huge 9ft boa constrictor snake on footpath in Wales
A group of ramblers had a shock when they stumbled across an enormous 9ft boa constrictor snake on a footpath in Wales.
Kevin Harvey and his neighbour David Edwards found the snake on a popular footpath at Erddig Park in Wrexham.
Mr Harvey, 54, told the Daily Mail: "It was incredibly long. It was easily as thick as my leg, and so, so heavy.
"We were so surprised to stumble across it and we poked it with a stick to see if it was alive."
Chris Wright, a teacher trained in zoology at Aberystwyth University, received a phone call about the snake, which was dead, on Saturday night.
Mr Wright said the snake probably died from the cold. He told The Sun: "The snake was a female and was an absolute beauty.
"It is such a shame. She had either escaped, or more than likely had been cruelly dumped by someone.
"It happens quite often unfortunately. It is most likely someone has dumped it and unfortunately it has been killed."
The boa constrictor is a species of large, heavy-bodied snake. It is normally found in North, Central, and South America, as well as some islands in the Caribbean.
It can reach lengths of anywhere from three to 13 feet, depending on the locality and the availability of suitable prey.
The bulk of their diet consists of rodents, but larger lizards and mammals as big as ocelots are also reported to have been consumed.
The boa will first strike at the prey, grabbing it with its teeth; it then proceeds to constrict the prey until death before consuming it whole.
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