Snakie the boa constrictor back home after escape in Philly suburb

SWARTHMORE, Pa., Aug. 22 (UPI) -- A 7-foot boa constrictor that slithered away from its owners in a Philadelphia suburb was found Wednesday sunning itself in a neighbor's garden.

In more than a week on the loose in Swarthmore, Pa., Snakie, as the 23-year-old snake is named, traveled about one-tenth of a mile, WCAU-TV reported.

Dr. David Spiegel, a veterinarian in Swarthmore, said he and his wife Linda like to give their pet outside time in the summer. On Aug. 12, the snake slithered off.

The Spiegels asked their neighbors, along with Swarthmore police and firefighters, to keep their eyes open. The police chief called them Wednesday afternoon to report the snake was no longer missing.

"I'm so relieved. I was so afraid someone would hurt him," Linda Spiegel said.

Liz Bouvette, who lives next door to the woman who found the snake, said she is terrified of snakes and feared she would stumble on Snakie. But she said the finder was unfazed.

"She was gardening and she saw it, she put it around her shoulder like it was no big deal," Bouvette said.