They slither, they crawl, they bite, and now, they’re in the school!

On Oct. 6, a snake was found in the back doorway of agriculture teacher Patti Priest’s classroom. The snake was fairly small and grey, but it sure spooked junior Megan Trammel when she almost stepped on it.

“I ran away I was so scared,” said Trammel. “I’m terrified of snakes.”

Students then proceeded to kill the snake and turned it in to senior principal Aaron Harris.

“I check for snakes every time I open that door now,” said Trammel.

Along with this snake, a baby copperhead was found dead recently in the school library. A night janitor found it lying behind a bookcase and did not know if it was alive or not. The venomous snake had been killed from distress when it was wedged between the bookcase and the wall.

Principals do not know if someone released the snake on purpose in the library.

“I really don’t think it’s a good place for a snake to be,” said school librarian Teresa Hardage.

Biology teacher Kelly Autry was given the snake to keep in her specimen freezer and noticed a ridge on the under belly of the baby copperhead.

“If you look at the ridge and the color of the snake, you can tell it died from distress,” said Mrs. Autry.

When found, the snake had also lost most of its color, another sign of death by distress.

“The thing is, if you have a baby snake, that means there are more somewhere,” said Mrs. Autry.

According to Mrs. Autry, the snakes are most likely finding homes indoors to escape the extreme weather the area has been experiencing.

“We had a cold winter, and then in the summer, it got really hot,” said Mrs. Autry. “I’ve had snakes in my garage recently as well.”