Boa constrictors have been found on a golf course after a suspected illegal dumping.
Golfers found two of the South American snakes hiding in the same patch of long grass at the Blackwell Grange Golf Club in Darlington, County Durham within the space of a week.
The 6ft-long reptiles are thought to have been dumped by a former owner and experts fear that more could turn up as they may have bred and given birth.
The first boa was found by a girl, 13, on June 13 when she over-hit her tee shot on the par-4 fifth hole.
Going to retrieve her ball, she had a nasty surprise when she saw it had come to rest next to the 6ft curled-up snake.
The snake had rolled ip near the fifth hole – Blackwell Grange Golf Club/SWNS
Aaron Cox, an Australian PGA professional who runs training sessions at the course, contained the snake in a cardboard box with fellow professional Peter Raine before it was taken to a specialist pet shop.
“At golf clubs back in Australia we’d have signs warning golfers about snake areas,” he said. “I never thought I’d be talking about needing those signs in County Durham.”
On June 19, a second snake was found by a member of staff 6m from where the other had been found six days earlier.
“He wasn’t happy at all,” Mr Cox said. “He was hissing and upset and had a couple of swipes at me while I was trying to get him into the box.
“The first one we managed to coax into a box using a golf club, but with this one I had to physically pick it up and put it in.”
Aaron Cox managed to move the second snake into a box despite the reptile being upset – Blackwell Grange Golf Club/SWNS
Reptile experts told The Telegraph the snakes were almost certainly former pets that had been raised in captivity and then released.
“With two, unfortunately that does sound like somebody’s been totally irresponsible and just dumped them,” said Chris Newman, director of the National Centre for Reptile Welfare (NCRW).
“Had it been one, then I think my view is most likely an escaped pet because we deal with those quite frequently. But for two, that seems unlikely. I think we need to make it absolutely clear it is totally illegal to release snakes like this, or it’s totally illegal to release any non-native animal.”
The boas, which are not venomous and instead kill their prey by tightly wrapping their body around them, would be able to survive until autumn on a diet of rabbits, birds and rats. Humans and pets are not at risk because the snakes will only go for smaller prey.
There could be others, too, and Mr Newman said it was “not beyond the realm of possibility” that either of the boas – whose sex is unknown – may have given birth.
“At this time of year our weather is pretty good, so they will survive,” he said. “It’s not ideal, but they will survive. But once we start to get into colder nights later in the year, then nature will take its course very quickly.”
Mr Newman urged the public to stay away from any other boa constrictors they saw in the area, instead advising them to take a photograph, call the NCRW and wait for one of its volunteers to arrive to collect it.
Aaron Cox with the young golfer, Phoebe, whose ball rolled up against the reptile – SWNS
Mr Cox said golfers had been left “a bit wary” of playing the course’s fifth hole.
“It is worrying from an animal welfare point of view,” he said. “I know snakes aren’t everyone’s favourite animal, but if these are pets then you can’t just dump them. Whatever the reason is, it’s awful.”
Mr Cox added: “It’s not a major concern at the moment. If we find a third snake in the same area then it might become more of an issue.”
A spokesman for the RSPCA said: “The RSPCA recommends that anyone who sees a stray exotic snake contact a local reptile specialist or our helpline for advice on 0300 1234 999. There is also more information on our website.”
