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The missing snake inside the J. Auburn Pepper Building at the City Centre Mall has been found, alive and well.

The young red-tailed boa constrictor had been missing since early February. Initial searches were made throughout the building, and notice of the snake had been made to all building tenants of the J. Auburn Pepper Building. After attempts to lure out the snake had initially failed, conservation office Lindsey Leko received a good sign to try again in his searches.

"I heard they caught the cobra that had escaped from the Bronx Zoo on April 1. So I emptied the storage room, and there was a pipe that went into the wall, so I cut a one-foot square hole in there and set out some water and glue traps around it."

"I checked it on April 5 and there was nothing, and then on April 6 there he was," added Lindsey. The snake had lost weight since its escape, and the conservation officers had taken it to the Prairie Animal Health Centre so they could remove it from the glue boards and give it an examination.

After being recovered, the snake spent its first hours back in its cage at the Conservation Office getting hydrated and having its first real meal.

"The plan is to get it out of the office building and sent away to Drumheller," said Leko. The snake left for Reptile World last week, where it will join another snake that was found in a Weyburn residence.

On Feb. 3, a red-tailed boa constrictor and a four-foot long carpet python, were secured from a residence as both snakes are illegal for a resident to have without a proper permit.

Leko said the snake would have never gotten out of where it was found. "The chance of it getting off the second floor was so remote. There are fire stops between the floors, and weather stripping on the doors. We can now put everyone in the mall at ease that it is found, and we appreciate their patience."