Olique is fascinated by a baby Boa but Barry couldn't quite convince him to hold it.
The Turks and Caicos Islands have no venomous snakes……..thank goodness!! What we do have so far is three species of snakes, the largest is the Bahama Rainbow Boa or Bahama Cat Boa, the Caicos Islands Pygmy Boa known locally as the Chicken Snake and the rarely seen Richard’s Worm Snake that burrows in the earth and looks very much like a pink earthworm.
Note the orange tip of the Pygmy Boa's tail.
The Caicos Islands Pygmy Boa is endemic to the Turks and Caicos Islands. In other words, it’s not found any where else in the world. This snake has a range of colourations from gray and black speckled to a deeper reddish brown. The tip of the tail is a bright orange which they use as a form of defense. The boa will curl up in a ball when threatened and wave the orange tipped tail to protect their heads which are quite vulnerable.
Barry shows Olique that Pygmy Boas are harmless and very unique to these islands
I found this little Boa curled up under a bunch of dead leaves in one of our planters and since Barry loves snakes, he kept it to show Olique. We’ve had several Pygmy Boas here at Harbour Club Villas and one time years ago when we were building, Barry rescued one that was about to be killed by the workers. He patiently showed the workmen that it was harmless and actually got them to handle and hold this unique little creature. All our snakes were released and we would hope are around here somewhere.
Olique is fascinated by the way this snake curled around Barry's finger
Check out the orange tail tip in the above photo. This Pygmy Boa will eat ants, termites, mice, rats and small lizards and geckos so they are great to have around. They grow to less than a foot long and are the smallest Boa Constrictor in the world and as such, this fact has made them famous. Make sure you don’t harm these beautiful and rare snakes should you happen to find one.
Marta