A naturalist in Tennessee got a bit of a shock when he discovered an enormous snake slithering around the ceiling of his screened porch on Sunday morning.
Jon D. Bumpus, from Nashville, was tending to his Highland cattle when his wife informed him of the unwelcome guest.
“When my wife told me there was a snake on the porch, I did not expect an over-4-foot rat snake dangling right outside the door,” Bumpus told Newsweek. “We’ve been seeing a lot of baby rat snakes around our little ranch lately, and I’m pretty sure we just met their mother.”
Bumpus shared footage of the encounter to his Instagram page, @jonbdalvy, in collaboration with the outdoor media outlet, Outsider. In the video, which has been viewed over 13,000 times, the snake can be seen slithering in and out of the rafters of Bumpus’ screened porch while his concerned cats watch on in horror.
“The cats are not a fan and have just now started to trust the world again after 48 hours of ‘no thank you’,” Bumpus said.
After watching the snake for several minutes, Bumpus—a naturalist and lead writer for Outsider—let her know it was time to leave. “I gave her a firm squeeze of the tail to let her know this is not a place she can be,” he said. “Hopefully she listens.”
According to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, gray rat snakes are one of the most abundant snake species in the state. They can be found in a variety of habitats, including woodlands, field edges and around farms and suburban areas.
“Rat snakes are very common in the the rural areas around Nashville, TN where we live,” Bumpus said. “They’re great pest control and eat a lot of mice and rats, hence the name.”
Rat snakes tend to grow to between 3 to 6 feet long, with a variable gray-black speckled pattern on their scales. “I initially thought she was only 4 feet, but after pulling her out of the porch ceiling, she was at least 5-feet-long, which is as big as rat snakes get in Tennessee,” Bumpus said.
The species is non-venomous and instead kill their prey by constriction. “They’re not dangerous to humans or our large dogs, but cats are natural prey for larger rat snakes,” Bumpus said. “Cats know this instinctively (which is why the boys currently refuse to come back out on the porch. I don’t blame them.)”
According to Bumpus, if you see a rat snake “somewhere you don’t want it,” the best way to remove them is through hazing: “Use a stick or other long object to swat them away.”
However, if you have small animals or poultry, you may want to call in a professional to have it removed right away.
You can read Bumpus’s full account here.
