COREY SMITH

Boa Constrictor Triggers Alarm at Fairfax County High School

Thursday was Fairfax County Animal Protection Officer Siobhan Chase's lucky day. She rescued a snake.

It wasn't a small, black garden snake. This one was a Colombian Red Tail Boa.

"I like snakes. I'm not scared of them," Chase said. "They're really not scary animals."

The huge snake made a slithery escape from Hayfield High School's science lab, triggering a motion detector at the school. 

Chase was on duty when her office got the call.

When she arrived at the classroom, she said the snake was hanging on one of the cabinets.

Her initial reaction was the opposite of fear.

"Oh, okay," she said.

The snake, called Buddy, was more rattled than she was.

Buddy posed for a selfie with Chase before returning to his home in the glass cage.

Pictures show the two getting along as Buddy wrapped himself around his rescuer.

Chase secured Buddy in his cage with a few biology textbooks on top and the two parted ways.

"Snakes are my favorite calls. Even the wild ones that get into people's houses, they're totally harmless," Chase said.

Chase walked away happy while Buddy was lucky he didn't get preyed on in the home of the hawks.

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