A snake and its owner were reunited Saturday after the pet snake was accidentally donated to Goodwill Industries of Fort Worth.
Austin Pair said Toki the Snake, had been missing for the last six months.
“We came back from vacation and I couldn’t find Toki,” said Pair. “We looked everywhere. We even tried putting out glue, rat traps in hopes of trapping him. It wouldn’t have hurt him. He would have just lost some scales. We checked all the couches... or so we thought... all the clothing. We tore every single room apart and nothing. Just snake is gone."
Nothing worked. Months passed and Pair was preparing to move. As many people do, he donated many items to Goodwill, including a couch.
Little did Pair know, the albino, red tailed boa had been hiding in the couch when they donated it.
James Murphy and his crew at the Goodwill Warehouse were the ones who made the discovery.
"I’m just glad I was there to keep everyone safe and to keep my employees safe too,” said Murphy. “We get creepy crawlies from time to time... spiders, rats and mice. But nothing this exotic. Definitely not something that I am used to."
Murphy, who is a snake owner as well, has kept Toki safe since the discovery earlier this week, until someone claimed it.
Thankfully, the reunion didn’t take long. Pair said a friend of his saw the media coverage of the donated snake and immediately gave him a call.
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Pair, who now has five snakes and a dog to care for, said he is so excited to be reunited with his pet snake, but has also learned a valuable lesson in this whole ordeal.
"Don't buy an aquarium with an open top and try to make a lid,” he said. “Just buy a legit terrarium. The one that has a wire top. Get tape for the sides if necessary.”
