The snake's owner decided to give his pet some fresh air on Sunday afternoon. So, he stuck the reptile up in a tree outside his home.

"Either he got distracted or whatever, but he lost track of it," said Bruno Cormier from the public security force of Saguenay, about 200 km north of Quebec City.

The animal is not venomous, nor is it considered a danger to humans, Cormier said.

But boas strangle their prey and small rodents in the neighbourhood might now have a new predator to watch out for.

"Might" is the key word, because the snake may not have had the chance to eat anything, Cormier said.

"Those snakes needs warm temperatures and our summer nights can get down to 12 C," he said. "The snake could be dead."

Cormier didn't sound very nervous on the phone. It could be due to fact that residents and police deal with much larger animals regularly.

He said in the summer bears often venture out of the surrounding woods and go through people's garbage.

"We get lots of calls from people who see bears," he said.