A man living near Slidell sent around an e-mail and posted a story on Facebook, claiming that a 5-foot-long snake hid in his front-door holiday wreath and bit him when he stepped too close. Marc Jones and his wife, Jill, have heard from countless friends and strangers since the incident occurred, from Texas, Georgia and all the way to South Korea. The bite occurred in October, but the buzz has continued.
Could it be true? David Steen, a doctoral student in Florida who writes a blog about living among reptiles and other wildlife, wasn’t so sure at first, and many others expressed skepticism that the story could be real. How could a snake get into the wreath? Why would it attack unprovoked?
As Jones, who lives along Bayou Paquet not far from Thompson Road, tells the story, he was home one afternoon when he saw the FedEx man pull into the driveway. He opened the door to greet the driver as he approached the front porch, leaving the door ajar.
The family dog, Daisy, took the opportunity to run out the door as well, barking until the driver left. Jones was standing in the doorway, attempting to usher the dog back inside when — OUCH — something pricked the top of his head.
At first he thought it was a branch from the wreath, but when he closed the door, he saw the snake peering at him through the glass panes. He realized the snake had bitten him, and he almost passed out from the s-s-s-s-surprise.
He called his wife, who was at lunch, and a friend to come over to see the snake, which measured 5 feet, 2 inches, and figure out what to do next. The friend, Shannon Brewer, brought a pole with a hook on the end to remove the snake from the wreath and eventually placed it in a garbage can for safekeeping.
As for Jones, he believed the snake to be nonpoisonous, so a doctor friend simply prescribed an antibiotic and advised him to thoroughly clean the wound.
The weirdest part of the story is trying to figure out how the snake got into the wreath in the first place.
Steen believes the creature is a Texas rat snake, a nonvenomous snake that also lives in Louisiana. This particular type of snake is an excellent climber that will ascend brick walls in search of rodents, and trees in pursuit of birds and eggs, according to the Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Steen has studied this particular snake and concluded that the event in question was quite probable.
“In contrast to many ‘unbelievable’ stories I receive via e-mail, I actually believe this one,” he said.
The snake isn’t the first the family has encountered in the year since moving into the house, which is surrounded by woods filled with wildlife, Jill Jones said. The couple, who have two young children, even bought two kittens on the advice of a friend who said the felines would be able to help with the problem.
Obviously, the kittens weren’t much help in this case, she said.
Jill Jones said she had no idea when her husband sent the story around that it would create such a stir. Marc Jones said he still hears nearly every day from friends who’ve heard the story or seen it online.
“We didn’t realize it would actually get the feedback it has received,” she said, noting that many people want to know what became of the now-infamous reptilian intruder.
“Let’s just say,” she said, “he won’t be bothering anyone again.”