CASSELBERRY, Fla. -- Florida's problem with abandoning exotic pet snakes is getting more attention in Seminole County. Wednesday afternoon, Casselberry workers called Animal Control about an 8-foot boa constrictor they found eyeing someone's cat off Winter Park Drive.

Animal Control says the snake didn't have any scars or scratches, so someone likely had been taking care of it.

City workers were cleaning out the drainage system close to a neighborhood off Winter Park Drive when they heard a cat hissing. They soon discovered what was driving that cat crazy.

“I was like, whoa,” Casselberry resident Brian Hahn said.

Brian Hahn says he walked out of his home on Gee Creek Lane in Casselberry (see map) and found police handling an 8-foot long boa constrictor. He was even more surprised to find a city worker spotted the reptile moments away from making his cat, Bebe, snake food.

“I go to check my mail and a snake’s trying to get my cat. You don't think of that kind of stuff,” Hahn said.

Casselberry police said one of its officers, who handles snakes, realized it wasn't poisonous, grabbed it behind its head and put the boa constrictor in a bag. Animal Control says it will scan the reptile to see if it has a microchip to find the owner, but Florida Fish and Wildlife says boa constrictors do not require permits or microchips.

Fish and Wildlife says it is still against the law to release boa constrictors. Seminole County Animal Control says, after five days, if the owner hasn't come forward it will find an appropriate home for the reptile, like the zoo.