News Features

Snake Skin Brings Scare To Neighborhood

    “Not for one second did I ever think it would get so blown up.”
   Halloween is still a few weeks away, but two large snake skins sent a big enough scare through an area of downtown Umatilla on Monday that the man who wasn’t trying to scare anyone felt it best to clear the air.
   Dana Lowe lives on Althea Avenue and keeps a large number of snakes. Over the years, he has placed shed skins outside of his home near the street, with the sheds sparking conversation among neighbors.
   “I love talking to people about my animals,” he said on Monday, after the placement of two nearly eight-foot skins of red tail boa constrictors near the street. The skins were discovered by a passerby who is new to the area. That passerby, who was exercising through the area, notified employees at Hartman, Hartman and O’Brien Accounting just south on Umatilla Boulevard. Those employees retrieved the skins, and felt the need to inform the broader public about the potential of two large snakes being loose in the area.
   “They could be a breeding pair, making babies,” said Nicole Irwin of Hartman accounting. “This isn’t good.”
   Truly, invasive snakes of that size slithering loose in the residential area, which includes the Pearl Lane apartments, could raise a great deal of public concern.
   However, research into the situation led to Lowe, who is known to have snakes at home. He was happy to clear up the confusion later Monday and put to rest any fears that large, invasive snakes could be loose in the area.
   “The skins are just out there as a fun conversation piece,” he said. “I’ve probably had 100 conversations with people over the years. I’ve been putting skins out for years.”
   Lowe said the skins were snakes he no longer owns, and he just decided to set them out after coming across them while cleaning up at home. He said he currently keeps a wide variety of snake breeds at the home.
   “Some neighbors get a kick out of it,” he said of his snake-displaying practice, and he voiced remorse that the skins put out on Monday had raised alarms in the neighborhood.
   “I didn’t think something like this could ever happen.”