WATCH: 6 Foot Boa Constrictor Found Living In Family Attic For Years

A family in Florida had a surprise guest bunking in their house for a few years: a six-foot long boa constrictor. The snake made itself comfortable inside the van der Herchen’s attic without anyone in the family noticing for at least two years.

Bob van der Herchen, of Englewood, Florida, said his wife and son had been complaining of mysterious noises coming from the attic.

Read: Video Shows Man Found Nailed To Tree In New Mexico

“Over the last couple of years, my wife said she heard sounds in the attic,” van der Herchen told WFLA. “[My son] used to complain he’s heard sounds in the attic. I didn’t think much of it, I thought maybe it was rats.”

​

His son, however, was convinced it was a snake. Van der Herchen finally made his way upstairs to investigate the mystery guest, only to find a six-foot boa constrictor hiding among the insulation.

“It was actually bunking in the rafter space right above the Florida room chair where my wife sits,” he said.

Van der Herchen called a snake trapper for help getting rid of the boa constrictor. The trapper noticed it had shed skin in the time it had lived in the family’s attic and estimated it had been there for up to four years. Eventually, the snake was coaxed out of its hiding place and taken by the snake trapper to a “more suitable home.”

“It took three and a half minutes for that snake to move into that rafter space,” said van der Herchen. “It was bigger than I expected.”

Boa constrictors can live up to 30 years and grow up to 13-feet long, but are commonly kept as pets by people in Florida.

“Boas are extremely common in the pet trade,” said the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission. “Individuals sometimes escape or are released by owners.”

Read: Massive Alligators At Kiawah Island Golf Course Caught On Video

That’s exactly what van der Herchen said he thought happened to this particular boa. He said he believed it was someone’s pet that escaped and entered the home by sliding off a tree branch that hung near one of the house’s windows. All in all, van der Herchen wasn’t entirely surprised to find the massive snake had made itself a home in the attic.

“Only in Florida!” he said.