A young boa constrictor was captured yesterday in central Puerto Vallarta shortly after 6:30 pm. The tame boa was appreciated by dozens of people who gathered around it.
The snake crawled through the corridors of the Villas Vallarta shopping center close to the bus stop in Las Glorias on Francisco Medina Ascencio Avenue. It was about 1 meter long.
Biologist Jaime Torres confirmed that it is a boa constrictor, warned that it is in a protection category in federal environmental regulations, and “therefore hurting or handling it is prohibited.” He said that, although it is harmless, it bites like all snakes.
He presumed that it was probably someone’s pet, and that it had escaped. He said that, as long as the weather is cooler, they are slower and tamer, which corresponded to the weather, since the sky was completely cloudy.
It is not unusual to find wild fauna in the streets of the urban area in Puerto Vallarta. The natural habitats of reptiles are nearby, although, according to Torres, and given the character of this specimen, the boa had probably been in captivity.
The snake, after being looked at for several minutes, was captured by an unknown person, who put it in a bag, without knowing if it was the proper handling for this species. It is unknown if it was given to the Green Patrol, or what its fate was.