Snake found in Sioux City Target shopping cart finds new home

by: Gage Teunissen, Jocelina Joiner

Posted: Aug 21, 2023 / 10:38 AM PDT

Updated: Aug 21, 2023 / 10:38 AM PDT

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — A boa constrictor found in a shopping cart in Target earlier this month will be getting a new home.

The 6-foot-long snake, now named Target, pronounced “Tar-Zhay,” was picked up by Sioux City Animal Adoption and Rescue on Aug. 12. The rescue waited a week for a potential owner, and when no one stepped forward to claim the snake, it was put up for adoption.

Professor Dan Fogell, of Southeast Community College in Lincoln, Nebraska, made the trip up to give Target a new home.

“If we keep him in our lab, we’ll probably use him for outreach,” Fogell said. “We have a couple of nights a year where we do family science night. We always like to have some big snakes for kids to come handle and have their picture taken with, so we’ll probably keep him around for that.”

The snake, a Columbian red boa, was found in a Target cart in one of the cart corrals and wasn’t noticed until brought inside the store.

Authorities are still unsure of how the snake ended up in the shopping cart in the first place.

While the snake is not illegal to own in the state of Iowa, it is not legal in Sioux City city limits, violating municipal code 7.01.010 covering dangerous animals.

The Columbian red-tailed boa constrictor is usually found in the Sonoran Desert in Mexico through Central America and outlying islands, according to Wisconsin’s Racine Zoo. They live an average of 20 years in the wild and 40 years under human care. Females are usually larger than the male, measuring up to 7-9 feet with the males measuring 6-8 feet. A full-grown female will usually weigh 20-30 pounds.

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Snake found in Sioux City Target shopping cart finds new home