Venomous snake found in high school football player's helmet during practice

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Animal experts say an Arkansas high school football player is lucky he wasn't injured after he discovered a venomous snake inside his helmet at a recent practice. Last week, a player at Maumelle High School noticed the cottonmouth snake, bringing practice to a halt.

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I've removed a snake out of a car vent, in the engine, purses, backpacks — in a helmet? Never," Chris Davis, director of Maumelle Animal Services, told KATV. "It's kind of unbelievable." According to Davis, animal control officers responded to the high school for a report of a copperhead snake in a football helmet. However, after examining the helmet, it was determined that the snake was a cottonmouth. Cottonmouth snakes, which are venomous, are known to hide in dark, sheltered places. "The cottonmouth in my opinion is probably the second most venomous snake here in Arkansas," Davis said. "I would say the rattlesnake is probably the number one. If this snake would've bit the child it probably would've been very fatal." Because the snake was snuggled in between padding of the helmet, it was hard to remove. Animal control officers had to flood the helmet with water to flush the snake out. Animal Services relocated the snake. "It was very unreal," Davis said. "You had to kind of be there and take pictures to say this was real." The cottonmouth is one of six venomous snakes in Arkansas. It is heavy-bodied, normally dark olive-brown to black and has indistinct dark crossbands, except when wet. It has a white upper lip and a black stripe from its snout onto its neck.

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