Great snakes! Boas nabbed near playground, cobras protect sleeping baby

Typical playground concerns: splinters, scraped knees, bullies, unleashed dogs.

What parents shouldn't have to worry about: boa constrictors.

Last week in Plashet Park in east London, two slithering boa constrictors, one 8 feet long and one 6 feet long, were spotted by "terrified parents" near a children's playground area.

"The last thing you think of coming face-to-face with in East Ham is a boa constrictor," Freddie Spence, a local father to two, told the Daily Mail.

"I'm not going anywhere near the park until they call in the experts and figure out why the park is full of snakes — there is no chance my kids are going there to be gobbled up until they sort this out."

(Spence didn't need to worry about his kids getting "gobbled up" by snakes. Boas kill their prey by suffocation.)

Police were called in and carefully removed the snakes, using litter pickers and plastic bags, from the scene. The reptiles are now with the RSPCA.

No one was injured in the ordeal.

"This is certainly the most bizarre call I can think of my officers dealing with during my time in Newham, but it just goes to highlight how the police must be prepared to deal with any event, often putting themselves in danger, to protect the public," said Newham's Borough Commander Tony Nash.

Officers believe that a pet owner likely released the unwanted snakes in the park.

In (somewhat) related news, who needs to spend money on a babysitter when you can recruit a team of deadly snakes to watch over your young one?

In a 2013 video now going viral, four cobras appear to stand guard over a baby.

At one point, the tiny child reaches out his hand and tries to grab one of the reptiles. The snake tolerates the baby's grabbiness, then resumes its protective position over him.

Closer to home, a Gatineau, Quebec, man discovered a recently shed boa constrictor skin in the front yard of his home earlier this month. Police tracked down the owner of the snake who told officers the boa constrictor is now in Montreal.

That investigation continues.

P.S. There's probably a 16-foot anaconda on the loose in New Jersey.

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