A video showing a boa constrictor eating a pigeon on an East London pavement has gone viral on social media. The video recorded a scene witnessed in Leytonstone on Aug. 4.
Dave Fawbert, an editor at Shortlist magazine, witnessed the scene and shared an image on Twitter. Dave told reporters that after a pedestrian screamed upon seeing the reptile, a large crowd quickly gathered to watch and film the snake eating its prey.
A passer-by named Rachel Garland recorded a video which quickly went viral after it was uploaded to social media.
Garland was quoted as saying in media reports that she was not scared by the snake as it was moving slowly and was not taking any notice of the people. She said the incident was “really cool.”
A staff member from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) later arrived, put the snake into a cardboard box, and took it to a nearby wildlife facility, BBC reported.
An official of the RSPCA speculated that the snake could be an escaped pet.
Boa constrictors are among the largest snakes in the world. They are not venomous and instead capture their prey and kill them by constricting or squeezing them.
