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I love my job sometimes...

Posted by LGray23 at 5/17/2012 5:07:41 PM

I'm a 911 dispatcher, and especially this time of year I start getting the "OMG THERE'S A KILLER SNAKE IN MY YARD!!!!". Now, our animal control is like....eh. Basically if I called him to respond to this he'd say "Tell them to call back when it's INSIDE the house, it belongs outside" lol. So, I always ask them to send me a picture to my work email so I can ID it and let them know if it's harmless or not (I live in Massachussetts by the way, we don't even HAVE dangerous snakes in our region lol). I've had two such calls this week so I figured I'd share the pictures of the cuties!

The first one was from a man, concerned because his wife is freaking out because there's a snake sunning in his yard and he has a two year old daughter. Here is the culprit.

I of course advise him that it is a harmless little eastern milksnake, and if he really needs to get rid of it for his wife's sanity, use a broom and shoo him towards the woods. I promised him it wouldn't fight back. He sent me another email, thanking me, said he was on his way without a fight, and they named it "Hershey" lol.

The second one actually just occurred right now. A woman called very VERY scared and said her landscapers found a HUGE snake and they put it in a tub because they don't think it's wild. I calmed her down and told her to email me a picture lol. Are you ready for this HUGE snake??

I also advised her it was an eastern milksnake and it's harmless, and it's more scared of you than you are of it. She laughed it off, then told me she asked her landscaper to "relocate" it. They agreed to bring it back and release it in the woods behind their business so she can be at peace.

Two beautiful snakes, I've saved the day yet again. Most people jump to killing it if they don't know what it is, so it's nice when I have people calling for help. I thought my fellow herpers would enjoy seeing the vicious beasts

Comments:

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Joe Farah,	Posted At: 5/17/2012 5:11:50 PM
	Eastern milks are not easy to find, so that's pretty awesome that others are doing all the work for you ;-) I grew up in NY and those were my favorite snakes to find growing up. Lucky you, they're beautiful.

Joe Farah,	Posted At: 5/17/2012 5:12:44 PM
	I see... they sent you pics. Still, that's awesome

LGray23,	Posted At: 5/17/2012 5:15:19 PM
	I've lived in the woods here for YEARS and I've NEVER found a snake. I've seen them in other areas while running or hiking, but never just hanging out in my yard! I'm jealous lol.

Aaron Florian,	Posted At: 5/17/2012 5:16:45 PM
	Way cool!!!!

MdngtRain,	Posted At: 5/17/2012 5:16:51 PM
	cool! Glad you were able to keep them safe ;)

Tiki108,	Posted At: 5/17/2012 6:05:12 PM
	Very awesome, glad you could save them from those killer beasts, lol

Niki ,	Posted At: 5/17/2012 7:39:30 PM
	One more snake left to eat mice, one less snake with it's head chopped off :D

Michael ,	Posted At: 5/17/2012 7:48:07 PM
	Boy Hershey really get around !!

Lauren ,	Posted At: 5/17/2012 9:40:54 PM
	Wait, people call 911 because there's a snake in their yard? ..... On the plus side, that's fun for you.

Jennifer S,	Posted At: 5/18/2012 8:09:34 AM
	Aw thats a really great thing to hear. :) Concerned people at least calling for help before killing the animal. Now, calling 911 is a little extreme though. lol Better than nothing!

James Thompson,	Posted At: 5/18/2012 9:21:50 AM
	Lucky you Leah everytime I ride my bike to work. I have always found a dead snake, and two of them were black ratsnakes male and female. It sickens me when I see them dead and not alive :-(. The last two i saw had no damage to them but look like they were stepped on.

Emily Milton,	Posted At: 5/18/2012 10:39:33 AM
	Vicious beasts from hell! I want one. And your job rocks.

LGray23,	Posted At: 5/18/2012 2:50:19 PM
	Emily, someone called me last year and said they found a ball python in their strawberry garden. I drove over on my break to pick it up and found this guy: Eastern milk snakes are really cute, and this guy was actually really friendly! I seriously considered keeping him, even quarantined him for a night...then decided it was best to let him be free. Very cool critters

Mystic Exotics ,	Posted At: 5/20/2012 5:59:25 PM
	That's cool, Leah! We don't get many calls about snakes, here in WA, but I used to get them when I was dispatching in CO. Lauren, you would be surprised at the reasons people call 911 for.

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