Boa constrictor, an escaped pet, found in Mission Hill

By Gal Tziperman Lotan, Globe Correspondent

Regina Okoawo, a Mission Hill resident, found an unwelcome guest in her back yard on Tuesday -- a four-to-five-foot boa constrictor.

“I don’t like snakes,” Okoawo said. “It was long and it was pretty, but I don’t want to touch it.”

Okoawo’s adult daughter found the snake, which a city official said is an escaped pet, in the back yard of the three-family Calumet Street home where Okoawo has lived for about 25 years.

“She said, ‘Mommy, look down, look down,’ ” Okoawo said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Okoawo called 911, and members of the city’s Animal Control unit arrived to pick up what they confirmed was a boa constrictor, she said.

Dot Joyce, a spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino, said the snake is an escaped pet.

The boa’s owner got in touch with Boston’s Animal Control unit and planned to pick up the pet on Wednesday, she said.

No one was injured in the incident.

Okoawo, who rents out the bottom two floors, said her tenants are not allowed to keep pets. The snake likely belongs to someone in a nearby house, she said.

A resident of Mission Hill for about 40 years, Okoawo said she hopes the snake never returns to her yard.

“I’ve been on this property for more than 25 years, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” she said. “I’m just glad that everything is taken care of and it’s over.”