Snake in a drive-thru? Boa found coiled under window of Triangle McDonald’s
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Cary McDonalds patrons discovered a 4-foot boa constrictor near the drive-thru.
- Snake expert identified it as nonvenomous, likely a lost or abandoned pet reptile.
- Rescuers safely secured the snake to prevent harm to local wildlife or pedestrians.
Taylor Sciarappa had finished her McCrispy sandwich and was walking back to her car sipping a blue Berry Blast Powerade when she heard the screaming.
“This guy that was at the drive-thru window was walking from the side of his car and he had a snake by the tail and he just dropped it in the bushes,” she said.
Coiled under the drive-thru window at the Harrison Avenue McDonald’s, a nearly 4-foot boa constrictor frightened guests and employees Saturday afternoon.
Worried the snake might be venomous, Sciarappa got her husband to grab it using a broken broomstick and put it in a box from a nearby dumpster.
“There’s kids that walk by here,” she explained. “You’re laying it in a bush and if a kid doesn’t know it’s there, the kid could get [bit]. So I was freaking out trying to figure out how to get the snake to safety but also not get [bit].”
She googled and called Talena Chavis, a professional snake catcher, to try and collect it.
“We opened the box, and we’re like ‘Wow, that’s a boa constrictor,’” Chavis said. “That was not what we were expecting.
“I am not sure what we were expecting, but not a boa constrictor,” she continued. “We were kind of expecting a misidentified snake or maybe a ball python.”
This snake, a boa constrictor imperator, is native to Central and South America, and can grow 4 to 8 feet. They are nonvenomous, and the snake could have been pet that escaped or got dumped.
The only venomous snakes a person will likely see in the Triangle or central North Carolina are copperheads.
This snake is about 2 1/2 inches thick and likely between 3 and 5 years old, Chavis said.
“The biggest danger that this snake held would be to some of our native wildlife,” she said. “Your chihuahuas were safe. Your kids were safe. They’re not going to wrap around your dogs. ‘Anaconda.’ ‘Snakes on a Plane.” Those are not documentaries.”
Sciarappa said she called Chavis because she didn’t want someone to kill the snake outright.
“When I saw how it reacted when my husband picked it up, I figured it had to have been someone’s pet at one point,” she said.
“I wanted to find someone who would actually take it and find it a home instead of killing it,” she said.
This story was originally published June 23, 2025 at 5:11 PM with the headline "Snake in a drive-thru? Boa found coiled under window of Triangle McDonald’s."
