A high school football player in Arkansas narrowly avoided injury after discovering a venomous snake hidden inside his helmet during a recent practice.
The Maumelle High student felt strange movement within his headgear following warm-ups last week, prompting him to show the helmet to an assistant coach.
Concealed behind padding was a two-foot-long cottonmouth.
Refusing to leave the headgear, the pit viper was finally removed after animal control officers submerged the helmet in water and extracted it using tongs.
Technicians from animal services confirmed the reptile was a deadly cottonmouth before releasing it in a wooded area.
Cottonmouths are classified as the second-most venomous snake found in Arkansas.
Chris Davis, an animal services director, said the student wore the helmet for almost an hour and was remarkably lucky not to be bitten.
"It was unreal," Davis told The Athletic. "You had to kind of be there and take pictures to say this was real."
“One of the officers noticed that it, due to it being big and fat, may have recently ate a couple of days before,” Davis said. “It probably was trying to find a dark spot to digest the food, and when it was coming across, it saw a helmet lying on the ground.”
The player selected a replacement helmet and returned to practice, but the head coach subsequently advised the squad to carefully inspect all gear prior to use, searching for insects or potentially far more dangerous creatures.
