FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – An Arkansas woman escaped injury and managed to safely stop her car after a 4-foot-long rat snake came out of her dashboard and slithered across her feet as she drove on Interstate 49.
Rat snakes aren’t venomous or generally a threat to people, but Kelly Swisher says the snake she encountered Thursday gave her a “nails on a chalkboard” sort of feeling.
“It was rough and scaly,” said Swisher, who was running errands when it happened. “I do not know if I had my hands on the steering wheel or not. I am not the most flexible person in the world, but I can guarantee my knees were up next to my ears.”
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She said the snake first slithered back into the dashboard and she hoped it would stay there until she was able to get off the interstate and stop.
“That did not work out,” she said. “Here he comes, and he wound up in my back seat,” before she finally could get off the roadway, stop and get out of the car.
Washington County animal control officers came and captured the snake.