( dpa )- Two teenagers on Saturday discovered a boa constrictor in a supermarket in the southern Austrian town Leibniz, and took the animal home with them, police said on Sunday.
The two boys, aged 17 and 18, saw the animal between the merchandise in the shop, caught it and took it home to their terrarium to look after the snake, the Austrian Press Agency said.
When checking with local police, the young snake-tamers were told that they could keep the snake, for the time being. A final decision will be made next week.
The snake, a boa constrictor imperator, is not poisonous and on average reaches between 1.3 and 2.5 metres in length.
Police are investigating how the snake ended up in a wintery Austrian supermarket but believe that the animal, may have been accidentally imported together with other merchandise.