Escaped snake draws attention

On Friday, Sept. 13, Nassau County Police responded to a call about a snake on the corner of York Street and Stuyvesant Avenue in East Meadow just before 4 p.m. A police spokesperson said the snake was about 4- to 5-feet long, and initially thought to be a boa constrictor.

Laura Siska, who lives on York Street, said she heard a commotion outside her house, and saw a few neighbors observing the snake at the base of a tree. They called police, she said, and the group managed to trap it under a recycle bin.

But the snake escaped, she said, and police officials arrived on the scene to try to recapture it. The snake then went onto Stuyvesant Avenue as a fast-moving car was approaching, and Siska said a police officer flailed his arms to stop the car, who ignored the officer and drove over the snake by accident. It died 45 minutes later, she said.

The orange, red and brown snake was later determined to be a corn snake, said Siska, which are commonly found in the Southeast, and are not poisonous. “It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen,” Siska said. “It had really pretty colors.”