8-foot snake blocks entrance to home until ‘venom unit’ arrives

An 8-foot boa constrictor, curled up by the front door, made residents of a Clermont-area home back up and then wonder how they could get back into their house Wednesday afternoon.

They called 911, which routed them to Lake County Fire Rescue’s “venom unit.” The unique group of firefighter/paramedics is devoted to providing antivenom to snakebite victims but also educates residents about snakes and, on occasion, helps remove dangerous ones from Lake properties.

At the unit’s request, the homeowner took a photo of the snake and texted it to fire rescue, which could see the creature was a large, red-tailed boa — a species not-native to Florida, said Chief Dan Miller.

“Wow, that is a large,” Miller said when he saw the photo.

Miller helped start the venom unit, modeled after one in Miami-Dade County, and is one of about a half a dozen firefighters/ paramedics who trained for the extra snake duties.

Though boa constrictors are not venomous, the unit decided it would help remove the creature that did not belong in the wooded neighborhood, Miller said.

Miller drove to the home and with the help of another crew member put the snake in a trash can. The snake will be turned over to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which will decide where it goes next.

The snake, which wasn’t aggressive, was likely a pet that was released into the wild once it got too big, he said.

The homeowners were pleased when their entryway was again snake-free, he added. “They were outside, and they went to go back in, and they couldn’t.”

The venom unit’s key mission is to deliver antivenom, stored at one of the stations, to hospitals around the region to help snake-bit victims. But for Lake residents, it will respond to snake calls, mostly to provide information. “We’re not in the snake removal business.”

The unit receives two or three calls a day, typically from homeowners unsure what to do about a snake on their property, Miller said. Often the unit requests photos and, if the snake is a Florida native, urges the homeowner to leave it alone or “shoo it away with a broom,” he said. “We don’t want people just running around killing snakes.”

But if the snake is large or dangerous, or near a school or other place where children gather, the unit will come remove it from the property and then, if a native, relocate it to an area far from homes, he added.