A ‘fence post’ on a North Carolina farm turns out to be the missing boa

Wood found the boa on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, on Calloway Road in Hoke County. He and his daughter, Peyton, contained it before animal control arrived to collect it. The Hoke County Animal Shelter announced the recovery that day, ending the search for a snake that had been missing since early October.⁠2⁠4

“We are happy to report that this slithery escape artist is safely secured and officially on its way home!” the shelter wrote in an update reproduced by Sandhills Sentinel. That establishes the important outcome: the animal was no longer loose. It does not explicitly confirm that the final handoff to its owner had happened.⁠4

Wood had workers putting up a fence when he noticed the object on the ground. In that setting, another piece of fencing material would hardly have demanded attention. Instead, he found a boa described in WRAL’s fuller account as six to seven feet long—a reported size, not a documented measurement.⁠2

“Lo and behold, it wasn’t a fence post; it was a snake,” Wood told WRAL. Recognition came quickly, even though the missing-pet warning had faded from his mind. “I knew right away it was the snake that was missing, but it had been so long I had forgotten all about it,” he said.⁠2

His wife had kept the possibility rather more firmly in view. Wood said she remained worried about the boa being loose nearby, while he had insisted it could not still be alive and wandering around the neighborhood. Its appearance on their property settled that household disagreement. Her concern had outlasted his certainty.⁠2

Knowing which snake it was did not mean Wood knew what to do with it. He called a friend who raises large snakes. According to Wood, the friend’s first reassurance was, “It probably won’t bite you.” Wood described the boa as fairly docile, though apparently nervous in the open. That was his assessment of the encounter, not a guarantee that handling it was safe.⁠2

After asking his friend whether a Rubbermaid storage container would work, Wood and Peyton took hold of the snake’s tail and let it move into the container. Animal control officials arrived afterward with another man who helped collect it. WRAL identified that helper as Matthew George, also known as Mountain Mat. The shelter’s update thanked both the helper and Wood.⁠2⁠4

The improvised containment worked in this instance. It was not, however, what officials had asked the public to attempt during the search. Hoke County animal control director Kristi Pylant’s October guidance was to keep a safe distance, keep children and pets away, and leave capture to animal control.⁠6

The owner had described the boa as docile and accustomed to handling, Pylant said. But a familiar pet outside its familiar surroundings was still a large animal capable of defending itself. Boa constrictors are non-venomous; that does not make approaching one risk-free. “They can be powerful animals and, like any animal, can react defensively if they feel threatened,” she warned. Those cautions concerned the period when this snake was loose, not an ongoing escape after its recovery.⁠6

The shelter’s first alert went out October 5, according to Sandhills Sentinel, covering the Calloway Road area near Carolina Horse Park. The November 4 recovery came almost a month after that warning. The exact escape day remains unclear: WBTV described an October 6 escape, which does not fit the Sentinel’s account of an alert the day before. “Missing since early October” is better supported than an exact count of days at large.⁠4⁠7

No injuries were reported in the recovery accounts. Wood believed the owner lived only a couple of houses away, but that was his understanding, not a verified owner address. Nor do the reports establish exactly when the boa was found or collected during November 4. What they do establish is a discovery, successful containment and collection with animal control’s involvement.⁠2⁠4

For Wood, the encounter supplied a story rather than a new enthusiasm. Asked whether it had made him consider a boa of his own, he told WRAL: “I mean, it wouldn’t be something I would have for a pet.” Finding the neighborhood’s missing one was enough.⁠2