Goodwill Employee Finds Live Boa Constrictor Hanging Over Edge of Donation Bin
Goodwills are known for the wide of array of used items that they offer for sale. If you’re not above walking in someone else’s shoes or eating off someone else’s plates, shopping at such thrift stores is a great way to get steep discounts and keep items from going to landfills, while helping good causes.
If you’re like many Americans, chances are that you’ve set foot inside such an establishment — but you’ve probably also donated items as well.
It’s nice to know that when you declutter or clean out your closets that your belongings can be useful to someone else still, although a lot of rather odd donations also make their way to Goodwills.
Sometimes people leave things in purse or coat pockets — including large sums of money. Sometimes family heirlooms and even urns get mixed into the “donate” box and leave their owners scrambling to reunite with them.
This one’s a puzzler. If someone had dumped a cat or dog in the donations bin, it would be pretty obvious right away.
But snakes bide their time. They aren’t loud, they don’t always move quickly, and they’re perfectly happy to sit still for long periods of time.
When Tassy Rodgers, one of the workers who was categorizing donations, looked at the bin and saw a large white and yellow reptile clinging to it, she must have had the surprise of her life.
“I was tipping this machine, and when I brought the bin back the snake was hanging over the edge,” Rodgers told KXAS-TV. “I was a little freaked out and thinking this cannot be fake; it’s gotta be real.”
Once the Forth Worth location realized that it was actually a live snake curled up on the bin, they scrambled to get it safely contained.
“They’re very strong and they are constrictors,” Assistant Manager James Murphy said. “So if he didn’t want to let go of that bin, it would have been hard to get him off without hurting him. So, we tried to coax him to start slithering, to relax his muscles and that’s when I started holding him. Eventually he relaxed enough for me to get him in that bin.”
“I just don’t know what the context is of how this snake got to us,” Murphy continued. “There are multiple steps this snake had to take to get here.”
“I don’t know if someone may have [dropped it off] maliciously,” he added. “Maybe they wanted to get rid of it and weren’t quite sure how, or maybe it just wanted to get warm. It was in a pile of clothing.”
The boa constrictor made quite a splash, and no one knows for sure how he got there. Snakes of this type, size, and coloration can easily go for hundreds to thousands of dollars — so someone either made a very generous (but misguided) donation or is missing an expensive pet.
Fortunately, the snake is in good hands, and is staying with Murphy (who has experience with reptiles) until the situation can be sorted out.
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