A cottonmouth snake tried to beat the heat in a high school football player’s helmet, resulting in a call to first responders.
Videos by Suggest
According to CBS News, the startled football player from Maumelle High School in Arkansas actually put the helmet on and began practice before feeling the reportedly two-foot-long snake wiggling inside. He then took the helmet to one of his coaches, where the cottonmouth was found minding its own business inside the padding.
The football players and their coaches promptly called the police. Footage shared by CBS on X shows police submerging the helmet, with the snake still inside it, into a trash can filled with water. Eventually, the snake, his day ruined but thankfully a bit cooler, peeks his head out of the water, and an officer snatches it up with a grabber tool.
A high school football player in Arkansas found a 2-foot-long cottonmouth snake inside his helmet last week.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 12, 2026
The pit viper was so reluctant to exit the helmet that police officers had to pour water into it to force the snake out and into a bag. pic.twitter.com/ggAPMREx33
Animal services technicians reportedly arrived soon after and confirmed that the snake was indeed a cottonmouth, which is venomous. The professionals then safely released the snake in a wooded area far from the football player’s practice field.
Meanwhile, Animal Services Director Chris Davis told CBS News that the football player wore the helmet with the snake hitching a ride for nearly an hour before he noticed it.
“It was unreal,” Davis told the outlet. “You had to kind of be there and take pictures to say this was real.”
The Maumelle Animal Shelter later confirmed everyone was OK, but on Facebook urged the public to “always give it a quick check first” before putting on any outdoor gear.
“It only takes a few seconds and could prevent a very scary encounter—or worse,” they added.