5-foot invasive snake found living in man’s newly purchased sofa, Florida cops say

A man’s newly purchased couch was carted out to the yard over the weekend — after he realized a large snake was coiled inside the padding.

The disturbing discovery was made Saturday, Dec. 4, at Clearwater’s Marilyn Pines Condominiums and the homeowner resorted to calling the police.

It was “a call you don’t see every day,” the Clearwater Police Department wrote on Facebook. Clearwater is about 25 miles west of downtown Tampa.

“A resident at Marilyn Pines calls this afternoon because he’s got a snake in his condo and it’s hiding in his couch,” police wrote.

“Officers carry the couch outside and find the red tail boa deep inside the couch. They then carefully extracted it from its hiding place. It was easily 5 feet long.”

The name of the homeowner was not released and police did not say where he bought the sofa.

A photo posted by the department shows the couch sitting on its side in the yard, as three officers searched for the snake. Neighbors are seen watching from a safe distance.

“The man just got the couch the other day and he thinks the snake was hiding in the couch when it came to his house. ... It’s a jungle out there sometimes,” the department said.

Red tail boa constrictors are non-venomous snakes that aren’t native to the United States. If found in the wild, they are treated as an invasive species. The snakes can grow to 8 feet, according to Everything Reptiles.

In this case, the snake survived and was taken by officers “to a local pet store” for a potential new home.

Hundreds of people have reacted to the police department’s Facebook post, including some who said they “would be traumatized.” Others suggested returning the couch to the store.

“Time to move. Leave everything and just go,” Stacy Briggs Rogers posted.

“Can you imagine laying on the couch watching TV or worse sleeping and it slithers on you,” Stephanie Beruvides wrote.

“Why did he want it back in the house,” Kellie Longtin Caplin asked.

This story was originally published December 7, 2021 at 9:53 AM with the headline "5-foot invasive snake found living in man’s newly purchased sofa, Florida cops say."