CLEVELAND COUNTY, Okla. – The Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office recently responded to a call unlike any other.
According to the sheriff’s office, a rural resident in the county found a 5-foot-long black rat snake in their car engine. Officials say the snake is nonvenomous.
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Sandy Moore-Furneaux, rescue liaison for the Oklahoma City Herpetological and Invertebrate Society, said the snake more than likely followed a mouse or rat up into the engine.
The sheriff’s office says residents in rural areas experience costly damage to wires and other things in engines due to rats and mice, “so the snake may have been a blessing in disguise.”
“My grandpa always loved the snakes and taught me not to fear them because of that,” Moore-Furneaux said.
Moore-Furneaux says rain is causing animals to seek higher ground.
If you have a snake in your engine, she recommends thumping the hood of the vehicle and leaving for a few minutes so the snake has a chance to leave.
