Advertisement

Walmart shopper catches large snake in parking lot

By Ben Hooper
Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter

July 13 (UPI) -- An Oklahoma woman who spotted a large snake slithering around the parking lot of her local Walmart didn't wait for authorities -- she grabbed the serpent herself.

Lisa Phillips was recorded on video by her niece, Megan Pinder, when she grabbed the large snake from the asphalt in the parking lot at the Walmart in Ada.

Advertisement

"My aunt told me that she saw a snake crawl out of a guys truck so I came over there, guess for moral support," Pinder told KXII-TV. "I am not a snake person."

Phillips, on the other hand, has no problem with snakes -- she strolled over to the serpent and grabbed it just under its head.

"I was really surprised that my aunt just reached down and caught it like it was no big deal," Pinder said.

Pinder's video shows Phillips casually carrying the snake from the parking lot to a nearby grassy area.

"I didn't want to leave it here in the parking lot and it start crawling up someone's windshield and cause an accident," Phillips said, "so I just grabbed the snake and put it in the grass."

Advertisement

Phillips said she also didn't want anyone to panic and harm the serpent, which she identified as a non-venomous bull snake.

"They're harmless -- yeah it could bite you, but they're harmless and they eat poisonous snakes, rats, mice, chickens, eggs, but for the most part a bull snake is your friend," Phillips said.

The incident was not the first this year to involve wayward snakes in Walmart parking lots -- police in Paragould, Ala., were called to their local Walmart in April on a report of several snakes slithering around the parking lot.

Detective Jack Hailey said investigators believe someone had captured up to 40 snakes and dumped them outside the store. He said callers reported the snakes were venomous copperheads and water moccasins, but police determined they were harmless garden snakes.

Latest Headlines