A high school football player in Arkansas practiced for over an hour at Maumelle High before coming to his coach complaining of odd movement in his helmet.
When they took the helmet off, they found a two-foot long cottonmouth wrapped around inside the padding.
Apparently the pit viper was so content hanging out in the hot, sweaty helmet, the police officers had to fill the headgear with water to get it out.
I probably would have gone with a different route...
Once they got the deadly snake out, the officers released it into the woods nearby.
The AP interviewed animal services director Chris Davis about the incident.
[Davis] said the player wore the helmet for nearly an hour and was fortunate he wasn't bitten.
βIt was unreal,' Davis said. βYou had to kind of be there and take pictures to say this was real.'
The player grabbed a different helmet and continued practicing, but the coach took a minute to make sure the players remembered they should be inspecting their equipment.
It could be a literal matter of life or death!
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