YONKERS, N.Y. - Commuters waiting for a train to the northern suburbs of New York City were surprised to see a boa constrictor lying on the railroad tracks, but the snake didn't block the rails for long.

Passengers in Yonkers saw the 10-foot snake curled up on the tracks Tuesday evening.

"We couldn't figure out if it was alive or not," passenger Edith Lynn Beer told The New York Times. "It was very thick. It had those rectangular markings."

A few minutes later, while police debated what to do, a train rumbled into the station and "bifurcated the reptilian trespasser," said Dan Brucker, a spokesman for the Metro-North rail line.