This is one reason I think exotic pets should be against the law.  The bigger problem is in the everglades where exotic snakes are in a war with local gators.  It’s one thing for people to dump cats or dogs that they don’t want (it’s horrible too), but it’s quite another to have folks playing around with animals that could screw up an entire ecosystem and eat small animals or children.  Which is why I thought the ending of this article was funny.  Rather than destroy the snake, they are going to keep it at the police station and wait on someone to claim it.  The thing is over 6 feet long and it’s already gotten out once.  Yeah, this is really smart.

A Murfreesboro woman with a lost cat found a likely culprit in her flower garden: a 6-foot-7 snake.

The resident at 2500 Dixon Court called police Thursday because she was afraid the the intruder might hurt her children — and suspected her cat had already fallen victim. The snake is likely an escaped pet, since it’s not native to Tennessee and is a type often sold in pet stores.

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Officers removed it from the flower garden and took it to the police department, where the snake will be housed until it someone claims it.

6-foot boa captured in flower garden | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean.