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Forget Christmas Turkey! How About Some Snake?

It's Christmas time and everyone is focusing on that ham and turkey. But today we went into the alley that intersects Mayflower, Banak and Lake View streets - and found that all the talk wasn't about turkey, it was about snake. That's right- snake as in boa constrictor. A 10 foot one was caught slithering through the 'hood and Monica Bodden found out how it will work out for an unexpected Christmas bonus for these area residents.

We warn you, if you're squeamish, you might want to change the channel�

Monica Bodden Reporting
Judging from the span of the skin, this Boa appears to be well over 10 feet.

Rosalie Williams - Snake Handler
"I am not really sure of the length how long it but according to them its about 11-12 feet."

The snake was caught in an over grown area between Vernon and Bannak streets.

Residents believe the snake was pushed out by clearing work being done in an adjacent lot.

Rosalie Williams - Snake Handler
"Yesterday they were doing some chopping in the church yard over there and in the evening they burn the grass and thing so I mostly think that its out there that this snake came from."

It was Rosalie William's husband who helped catch the creature.

Rosalie Williams - Snake Handler
"They came to call my husband because they know he is a jack of all trades, he can catch anything for you so when they call him they told him that a snake was in the grass there - a big snake and he went and he caught it."

After the snake was caught this morning, it was skinned and according to the folks in the area this thick coil of snake flesh will be sold.

Rosalie Williams - Snake Handler
"We already know that the Chinese will buy it so we just operate on it the same time."

Monica Bodden
"How much you plan to sell a pound of the meat for?"

Rosalie Williams - Snake Handler
"Well the Chinese usually pay about $5 a pound so if we cant eat turkey and ham we will eat snake for Christmas." (laughing)

Williams says they already have some customers lined up�

Rosalie Williams - Snake Handler
"My husband knows the spots that usually buys and they don't want it one that is small, you can't go to sell any "maga" snake to them. You have to carry a thick snake with lots of pounds; they don't want any 2-3 pound snake."

Monica Bodden
"This is an instant Christmas money?"

Rosalie Williams - Snake Handler
"Well not really Christmas money, but a little season party money. My concern is that I only eat shrimp chow mien, I don't know about the rest of meat that is chop up, if I buy food from the Chinese I would buy shrimps because I know what shrimp look like."

And from what we understand - this is not the first time a snake of this size has been caught in the neighborhood.

Rosalie Williams - Snake Handler
"This is not the biggest that we caught, we caught bigger than this already right through this area."

Monica Bodden
"It is not an alarm for you guys?"

Rosalie Williams - Snake Handler
"It's not an alarm because I always tell them about it, through the alley I mostly complain about the chopping of the yards and keeping the environment clean for the sake of this same reason. I call on talk shows many times, I get on the news many times and I am showing them now, see the results. This is the results because you will find medium size, but when they start to grow this size they will swallow children and animals and anything that they could find, because this is not anything to play with, snakes are for real."

The snake sells for 5 dollars a pound�

http://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=18491

Just so everyone knows - it is illegal to possess, molest, kill or sell native Belizean wildlife without a license. That includes any game sold in restaurants. If it is necessary to kill wildlife to protect livestock or people, it must be reported to Forest Department.