"Giant snakes invade the trees in Arlington." That promo on the early Sunday morning television newscast last week caused me to lay aside my comics section. The story began with the newsperson saying that two boa constrictors, measuring seven feet and nine feet long, were captured in the treetops by a professional tree trimmer. The man on the screen was wearing welder’s gloves and holding a Texas rat snake that measured all of two and a half feet long. The other "giant snake" was coiled in the corner of an ice chest. Both of them end to end would not reach six feet. I smiled thinking surly someone would catch that big mistake before the story aired again. I settled back to "Peanuts" and my hot coffee.

       Fifteen minutes later, same narrative, same video, I was already into the sports but this could not go on. I called the station and pointed out the error. The next broadcast had been corrected although the story title on the screen still said "Arlington-Boas." When will people learn?

       The common South American boa constrictor is popular in every pet shop in the metroplex. This boa can be found in its natural habitat in many parts of South America. It is a forest dweller that prefers to dine on warm-blooded animals such as birds and rodents. It is a very solitary, secretive animal and only travels with another boa about once a year tra, la....... It does not get as long as people like to think. Although the record is 18 feet, it normally only grows to a maximum of about ten feet. It gives birth to live young and may have five to fifteen at a time. This snake is a constrictor but would not apply a chokehold on a person out of fear. It only constricts what it plans to eat. All this doesn't seem to mean much when I'm standing in front of a group holding a boa whose body is wrapped tightly around one arm and my hand is turning blue. You must realize that if you don't have hands and you're dangling in midair, you must hold on with something!