A St. Petersburg family got an unwelcome guest the day before Thanksgiving.

Juli Myers, 13, was the first to spot a 6-foot boa constrictor sitting on the porch of the house, located in the 1000 block of 27th Street N.

“When I stepped out on the front porch, there was like this huge snake and I was screaming, 'Oh my God,' and then dad comes and he’s like don’t scream so loud it’s just a garden snake,” Myers said.

Her dad, Don, quickly found out the unwelcome guest was not a garden snake, but a 40- to 50-pound boa constrictor.

“I look out there and I started to scream a little myself,” he said. “It was shocking!”

Don said he panicked and called everyone he could think of, including 911. Eventually Wildlife Rescue Rehabilitation owner Vernon Yates showed up. But by then the snake was under a shed.

So Yates cut a hole, but the unwanted guest wasn’t about to go quietly. After breaking the gate the snake was behind, Yates finally wrangled it in.

“Once our friend Vernon pulled the snake out we were all really relieved and the snake was pretty mad. Probably be more mad when he sees the invoice for my shed and my fence,” homeowner Michael Dema said.

The people who live in the home where the snake was found said they have no idea where the snake came from. Wildlife officials say the snake was probably someone’s pet.

“It’s really and truly not all that uncommon and this is not one of the giant python snakes that the public has to worry about that’s going to eat them,” Yates said. “This is obviously someone’s escaped pet. The real question is how long has he been loose.”

Wildlife officials said the owner of the snake can come forward to claim it but they must provide proof that the snake is theirs.