The woman who owned the snake was from south east Asia where you can apparently release them into the wild if you don't like them.

We didn't think that would be good for the snake or folks in town if it was done here in our New England town.

At first she gave it to some Buddhists that she worked for. But, once they realized it ate live food they objected to it and gave it back.
As we had said we'd take it rather than have her let it go free, we ended up with it.

At the time we thought "we have friends who work in a science museum that has a zoo attached. We'll only have this snake the length of time it takes us to drive to that museum."
Apparently there was a glut of boa constrictors that year and the zoo wouldn't take her.
The Buddhists wouldn't take it back.
We wouldn't set it free in a place not suited for it.

We had her for about ten years. And, we fed her live rats.
Some times she had more trouble killing them than others.
One time, it was a very strong rat and it fought back more than she could handle.
The rat didn't make it either.
It was not a fun morning to wake up to that...