Reptilian rescue mission: 14-foot-long pet snake lowered from roof of western Wisconsin home

A pet snake — all 14 feet of it — got loose from its cage and slithered onto the roof of a western Wisconsin home, where it remained until a sheriff's captain brought the boa constrictor down.

The reptilian rescue mission unfolded Sunday night at a home in Chetek, where the snake made a slink for it while left alone by its owner and under the watch of a neighbor, said Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald.

Sheriff's Capt. Jason Hagen equipped himself with a pole used to hang Christmas lights and went up the ladder toward what was either a boa constrictor or a python, Fitzgerald said.

"He pulled it off the roof, but it got stuck in the gutter," the sheriff said. Hagen regained control and eventually brought the snake to the ground.

"It was just over 14 feet, and it was really heavy," said Fitzgerald, who observed from across the street during the operation, which he estimated last a solid hour. "I said, 'I'm fine way over here.' "

Fitzgerald said his captain was the right person for the job because "he owned a snake when he was younger. He knows all about snakes."

As for Deputy Dave Hubbard, who took temporary custody of the cold-blooded creature before it was returned to its cage, "He's fearful of snakes," the sheriff said. "But he overcame his fear that night and said, 'It's not so bad.' "

Bryan Harvey, a wildlife supervisor for Twin Cities-based Plunkett's Pest Control, said that a snake and reptile breeder on his team identified the pet as a four-to six-year-old female red-tail boa constrictor.

Fitzgerald said it's permissible for the snake to be in Chetek, where police are aware of it in their midst.