Venomous snake found in high school football player's helmet
A high school football player recently had a venomous, scaled surprise tucked away in their football helmet.
Animal services in Maumelle, Arkansas, received a call from Maumelle High School last Thursday, reporting a snake had been found curled inside a football helmet, Chris Davis, director of animal services for Maumelle, said in a statement to ABC News.
Amy Eoff, lead animal control officer with Maumelle Animal Services, added that it was reported to them that a player had been wearing the helmet for an hour before noticing the creature.
Nick Farr, executive principal of Maumelle High School, told ABC News, "The student in question did feel something kind of moving on his head and, he took his helmet off and alerted the defensive coordinator that 'Hey, there is a snake in my helmet.'"
Athletic director Kirk Horton and Farr were notified shortly after the incident.
The student's guardian was notified and the student was evaluated to confirm he was in good condition, according to Farr.
According to Eoff, the snake was initially reported to be a copperhead, but once animal services examined the specimen, they realized it was a cottonmouth snake, a venomous serpent found across America's Deep South and as far north as southern Missouri and Virginia.
Davis said two officers attended the scene and confirmed the snake was lodged in the helmet's padding.
Once the cottonmouth arrived at the shelter, still in the football helmet, Davis said the service's realized tools would not be able to pull the snake out of the helmet.
The team decided to flood the snake out by placing the helmet in a container and submerging it in water until the snake decided to come out of the helmet for air, when the team was able to remove the snake, according to Eoff and Davis.
Eoff said the snake is still alive and was released elsewhere after its removal.
"Everybody should be cautious leaving anything outside," Eoff said in an interview with ABC News. "Snakes will curl up into anything."
"Most of the time these snakes are not trying to harm anybody, but of course they're fierce," she said. "So, if anybody reaches in, they're probably going to snap at them cause they're just terrified."
ABC News has reached out to Pulaski County Special School District for more information.
