Hey guys!!! Here is a very unusual story from our Hot Pockets customers: Back on 25 September 2009, as the catastrophic Station Fire in Angeles National Forest was finally being put out in the San Gabriel Mountains, a rosy boa was discovered next to a trail, where she had lain, unmoving for 4 days, below a burned slope. There were still smoldering hot spots among the granite boulders near the snake, with some of the rocks reaching 350 degrees F. Occasionally smoke would erupt out of the ground or start small fires where the large root systems of burned trees still smoldered underground. Fire crews monitoring spot fires became concerned about the snakes condition at the edge of the burn zone. One of them gave me a call. I met the crew to receive the snake, a beautiful rosy boa that appeared to have soot around her nose and a large, abnormal bulge in her midsection that might indicate internal injuries, perhaps from a rock fall. I transported the snake to a local veterinarian skilled in reptile care, keeping her cool and torpid on a soft Hot Pockets grain-filled pack that I kept in the refrigerator for such occasions. An x-ray proved that the bulge was not caused by injury, but from the snake eating an oversized meal of what appeared to be a BBQd (charred) gopher! Evidently, while fleeing the fire, the rosy boa had encountered a gopher killed by the flames and decided she couldnt pass up a free lunch. To assist with rehydration and digesting the large rodent, spa treatments were prescribed for the snake consisting of half hour soaks in comfortably warm water twice per day. I also kept the snake warm by microwaving the Hot Pockets grain pack to an appropriate temperature and placing her on it, to aid digestion. Eventually everything came out OK...literally, when remains of the gopher were passed out as feces. After rest in a safe and warm place, the rosy boa was ready to be set free. We do not reveal the exact location rosy was found and released to prevent someone attempting to recapture this snake. Unfortunately, rosy boas are a docile and beautiful species that is too frequently collected from declining wild populations. Please, keep wild snakes wild! Reptilian Regards, Lori L. Paul Veterinary technician & biologist Altadena, California
Posted on: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 16:45:43 +0000
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