A Maumelle High School football player in Arkansas had been practicing for close to an hour when he felt something shifting inside his headgear. He handed the helmet to a coach. Wedged under the padding was a live two-foot cottonmouth.
Animal services was called out on a report of a copperhead, according to KATV in Little Rock. The snake turned out to be a cottonmouth, also known as a water moccasin, which director Chris Davis rates the second most venomous snake in Arkansas behind the rattlesnake. It had burrowed so deep into the padding that officers finally poured water into the helmet to flush it out, then bagged it and released it away from the school.
The player was never bitten. Athletic director Kirk Horton told the station the reaction among his staff was flat disbelief, and that he liked his odds in the lottery better than his odds of seeing that again.
Cottonmouths seek out dark, enclosed spaces, which is why the city animal shelter followed up with a reminder to check helmets, gloves, and shoes before putting them on.
The player picked out a different helmet and finished practice.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.