Four-Foot Snake Slithers Into Car, Woman Narrowly Avoids Interstate Crash

A South Carolina state trooper has been praised after wrangling a snake from a woman's car on a roadside.

Mary Alice Simmons was driving on an interstate near Kershaw County when she glanced down and saw a snake slithering around the footwell of the passenger seat. "I definitely freaked out," Simmons said. "I'm surprised I didn't wreck." She called 911 and dispatch sent for the Highway Patrol.

Incredibly, Simmons remained calm enough to pull over on the shoulder of Interstate 20 in Kershaw County and waited for help to arrive.

Senior Trooper Bruce Horton took the call and asked his colleague Sergeant Jonathan Oxandaboure if he wanted to tag along. "It was something different, so we were going to have a good time," Oxandaboure recalled.

By the time the troopers arrived on the scene Simmons was very relieved to see them.

"She was having a rough day that's for sure," said Oxandaboure. "I felt bad for the lady because she wanted to burn the car."

The snake had already made its way up onto the dashboard, so Oxandaboure wasted no time, opening the car door and grabbing it with one hand behind the head and another on the tail.

"This trooper had to be a good ol' country boy," Simmons said, referring to Oxandaboure. "He reached in there, grabbed that snake, and pulled him right out like it was a cute little kitten."

Thankfully, the species was a harmless kingsnake. Found across North and Central America, they are carnivorous and have an opportunistic nature when it comes to food—even eating other snakes.

Generally known for calm and docile behavior, the kingsnake is not known to be aggressive towards humans. While they may mimic the behavior of venomous snakes, such as hissing, they cannot harm humans.

Snake wrangling isn't part of usual state trooper training, but it isn't an unheard-of feature of the job either. Oxandaboure revealed he has dealt with roughly half a dozen snake-related calls while working.

After showing off his catch to other troopers, he later released the ride-along reptile into a swamp near his office.

Shaken up, Simmons was grateful for the trooper's actions, but it had left her less than enthusiastic about her car. The same day, she decided to trade it in for a newer model.

"Those troopers were awesome," she said. "They were very light-hearted and had a good sense of humor."

Newsweek has reached out to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety via email for comment.