Friday, May 17th 2019, 5:41 pm
A Bethany homeowner reported receiving a big surprise while doing laundry Wednesday.
“I just came out here to put a load of clothes in, and normally I just throw them in not even thinking,” Natalie Earls described.
However, Earls said when she looked inside her washing machine to add detergent, a long and thick snake was staring back at her.
“It took me a couple of minutes to realize it was a snake, and then, of course, I had to scream and run in the house,” Earls said.
Earls said she gathered her bearings and called her brother-in-law over to help her.
“He came down and drug the washer out, but we lost the snake inside the washer. It traveled down into the tub and into the motor part,” Earls said.
Eventually, the two were victorious, shaking the washing machine until the snake slithered out.
“We finally shook it, tipped it, rocked it, banged it even kind of hard on the ground and he finally fell out from the bottom,” Earls said.
Earls is now taking steps to snake proof her home.
The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife said any homeowner can reduce the chance of snake intrusions by covering any unwanted openings.
“You just kind of do an assessment of the outside of your house, making sure you've got a lot of sealant or weather stripping,” Jenna Donnell, a wildlife diversity information specialist with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife said.
Donnell said the snake Earls found was not venomous and looks to be a Western Rat Snake.
However, Earls said she now has a new washing machine and new fear of snakes.
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