Traffic was brought to a grinding halt in Prince William County, Virginia, after a large snake caused a power outage at a busy intersection this week.
The snake had slithered into the breaker box that controls the traffic lights between Prince William Parkway and Sudley Manor Drive in the area—which lies close to Washington D.C.—and had somehow meddled with the wires.
"Crash Investigator Lewton and Animal Control Officer White removed it unharmed and released it in the area," the Prince William County Police Department said in a statement on social media about Monday morning's incident.
Photos shared by the police department show officers carefully untangling the reptile from the breaker box's wires.
The police did not disclose the snake's species, although members of the "Snake Identification: Discussion and Resources" group on Facebook have identified it as a harmless rat snake.
According to the Virginia Herpetological Society, eastern rat snakes are one of the most commonly found snake species in Virginia. They can be found across a range of habitats, including farmland, forests and wetlands.
The species can reach lengths of over 8 feet, although they rarely exceed 6 feet, and can be recognised by their black shiny backs and black and white checkerboard-like bellies.
This is not the first snake to have caused a major power outage in this way: In 2022, a snake in Japan cut power to 10,000 homes during a heatwave after it short circuited an electrical substation.
In Virginia too, this phenomenon is not totally unheard of. "As an electrician, I've seen this multiple times," Nel Cruz said in response to the Police Department's post on Facebook. "Snakes like to hide in electrical panels."
"We lost our AC unit when a snake short circuited the unit," said another user.
The Police Department's Facebook post has received hundreds of likes and comments and been shared over 250 times.
"That little guy put the whole area on its knees," said one user.
"He was just trying to stay warm," said another.
According to The Washington Times, police officers stepped in to direct traffic, which was backed up for 45 minutes after the outage.
The Prince William County Police Department concluded its statement with a reminder about road safety in the event of a power outage: "Crash Investigator Lewton would like to take this opportunity to remind motorists when traffic signals are not working because of a power outage or other problem (snake perhaps) and not displaying any lights, treat the traffic light as a stop sign and use extreme caution before proceeding."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Pandora Dewan is a Senior Science Reporter at Newsweek based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on science, health ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
