Eight-foot snake eludes captors

ST. PETERSBURG - A picture may tell a thousand words, but for Nung Bedell, it tells his 8-foot snake tale.

"I saw on the curb what I thought was just rolled up carpet," he recalled.

On his way home late Saturday night, Bedell spotted an 8-foot boa constrictor in the middle of Brighton Bay Boulevard in St. Pete.

"I knew from the side that it was a rather large -- what could be a snake. So I turned around and sure enough it was."

He immediately called 911, trying to convince police of this sneaky suspect that was spotted trying to cross the street.

"I could tell that it was just one of those Saturday night calls and once that officer had confirmed it, we had a few more officers on the scene."

Officers surrounded the snake and tried to capture it, but instead startled it. It then slithered away into the mangroves.

"I think maybe pet owners who are out there that have these snakes are letting them go because of all the bad publicity about what happened in Sumter County," offered Bill Proffitt of the St. Petersburg Police Department.

In fact, Nung says the recent death of a 2-year-old girl in Sumter County -- strangled by a python -- is what made him stop Saturday night.

"Normally I would have thought it was some junk on the side of the road and thought nothing of it,' he added.

Officers did not shoot or run over the snake because of department policy.

"We have a policy that allows us to shoot a dangerous animal as a last resort," Proffitt explained.

That means the snake is still out there, possibly still roaming the streets of this St. Petersburg neighborhood at night.

Neighbors say they are warning one another, and Nung says he's working with a trapper to capture it, hoping to have one less boa on the loose.