Watch: N.C. farmer finds apparent fence post was escaped boa constrictor

Nov. 6 (UPI) -- A North Carolina farmer said what initially appeared to be a fence post on the ground on his property turned out to be a boa constrictor that had been missing for a month.

Richard Wood said he was working on the fence at his property Wednesday in the Calloway Road area of Hoke County when he spotted what appeared to be a misplaced fence post on the ground.

Wood told WRAL News he took a closer look and: "Lo and behold, it wasn't a fence post; it was a snake."

Wood recalled that the Hoke County Animal Shelter had warned residents to be on the lookout for a 6-to-7-foot boa constrictor that had escaped from an area home.

Animal control officials told Wood it would take them about 30 minutes to arrive, so he contacted a friend who raises large snakes for advice.

Wood and his daughter, Peyton, were able to wrangle the snake into a Rubbermaid container.

"Peyton got it by the tail. I got it around by his head. He went right in," Wood told WNCN-TV .

Animal control officers arrived with Matthew "Mountain Matt" George to collect the serpent.

The snake turned out to have escaped from a home four doors down from Wood's farm in early October. The owner had moved out of town and left the snake in his father's care when it escaped.

Mountain Matt is now caring for the boa until its owner can collect it.