LEBANON, Tenn. (WKRN) – It wasn’t a snake on a plane or a train, but instead on a car driving along Callis Road.
A snake was caught on camera slithering on the hood of a car while Analissa Hensley and her family were driving.
“I’m sitting there like, ‘We have a huge snake on the hood of our car,'” Hensley told News 2. “We were on our way to Mt. Juliet, going to pick up some soccer stuff for my youngest daughter, and we’re just having a conversation and my husband’s like, ‘There’s a snake.'”
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Hensley still does not believe her eyes after she saw a snake slither along the hood of her car.
“Am I really seeing this?” she said she remembered thinking. “So I started recording and it started working its way over to my side.”
She said it looked to be about 5 feet long. They tried to pull over to the shoulder but — just as fast — the sneaky snake appeared.
“That’s when it ended up like taking and rolling and going off the side,” she said.
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Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Biodiversity Biologist Mallory Tate said this type of snake has markings consistent to a grey rat snake.
“It is a nonvenomous snake that we have in Tennessee,” Tate said. “Pretty common. Most often when we have gray rat snakes, specifically in cars, it’s because prey are using the cars. So either a bird has built a nest in there or has started to build a nest — usually a Carolina wren — or there are mice in the car — gray rats. Snakes are really good at scent detection. That’s why we find them in our chicken coops, near bird nests, [and] near mice.”
She said the best way to keep snakes out of your car or property is to check for nests from birds or mice.
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“To me, they’re a good friend to have around,” Tate said. “They are nonvenomous. They’re not dangerous to you, your kids, or your pets, or your livestock. But if you [can,] just keep your cars cleaned out. I always recommend no wood piles near the house.”
She said the snakes will not hurt you as long as you give them space.
“It doesn’t want anything to do with you,” she said. “Just like most don’t want anything to do with them.”
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