Arkansas high school football player spent the better part of his practice at the hands of a two-foot-long cottonmouth “snake, said the New York Post. The event happened during practice for Maumelle High School.
Coaches and training staff expressed “shock and disbelief” when the player brought the helmet over after feeling uncomfortable inside his helmet, said school athletic director Kirk Horton, who could say had not witnessed anything of this type in 10 years.
The Oklahoma City News Now reported that a cottonmouth, which is a venomous snake, made its way into the student’s helmet and hid in its padded structure for up to an hour before he began noticing an unfamiliar sensation and complained to school officials.
After locating the venomous snake in the helmet, its live, coiled inhabitant was secured and placed into a bag, Horton told reporters, before they called Maumelle Animal Services.
They’d gotten snakes from car engines, purses and backpack bags, but never, ever a football helmet. Chris Davis, director of Animal Services, said to Oklahoma City News Now that when he arrived on the scene, he finally found the snake inside the helmet, and they put it in a sink and submerged it in water. The cottonmouth was soon apprehended.
According to Oklahoma City News Now, a cottonmouth is generally known for finding shelter in dark, confined spaces.
Cottonmouths are considered the second most poisonous snake in Arkansas after the rattlesnake.
Thankfully, the player was uninjured.
