Story Archive

Don’t Tread on Me

Firefighters in Sheffield Lake, Ohio, responded to a call from a woman who was being attacked by a snake. “I’ve never heard of this before,” the dispatcher told emergency responders. “Oh, please,” the woman begged the 911 operator: “I have a boa constrictor stuck to my — my face!” The woman, who had called on her cell phone, went silent, but the 911 operator kept the call connected and could hear the approaching sirens. When rescue crews arrived, they found the 45-year-old woman lying in her driveway, still trying to fight off her boa constrictor. “It was wrapped around her neck and biting her nose and wouldn’t let go,” said Fire Chief Tim Card. “They had to cut its head off with a knife to get it to let go of her face.” The snake, measuring over 5 feet long, was one of 11 the unnamed woman owned: nine ball pythons and two new boa constrictors she had “recently rescued.” (MS/Elyria Chronicle-Telegram) ...When holding a snake, never click the “FaceTime” app on your cell phone.