Doorbell cameras capture a lot of interesting events on film: Porch pirates, confused people coming to the wrong house, and so much more. Jerel Haywood was visiting a friend in the town of Lawton, Oklahoma, when he knocked on the door and opened it — only for a snake to lunge from its hiding spot on the porch light and sink its fangs into Haywood’s face, CNN reports. And his friend Rodney Copeland’s doorbell camera captured the entire attack.
The video shows Haywood stumbling backward in shock with his hands clutched to his face. With no knowledge of the kind of snake, Haywood’s first thought was to get to the hospital for treatment. Thankfully, the snake was not venomous, and Heywood will be just fine after a round of antibiotics. The bite didn’t even require stitches.
The story did not end so pleasantly for the snake, however. After Copeland and his wife saw the attack, their cries attracted the attention of their neighbor — who brought a hammer and beat the snake to death on the ground. The creature was roughly 5 feet, 5 inches long, so the size alone was enough to cause alarm.
While it’s a good idea to check for snakes during the warmer months, the chances of one using your porch as a refuge are unlikely. Snakes prefer to stay hidden from people. Heavy rains in Oklahoma had driven the snake to seek safer refuge on the porch. Copeland has since sprayed his yard with sulfuric acid to discourage any other snakes that might think it’s a good idea to hide on his porch.
With summer coming and the temperatures heating up, snakes are out and more active than ever. Haywood and Copeland took the right steps by seeking immediate medical treatment, and eliminating the snake was also a smart move; after all, you should have a photograph of the snake to provide the hospital with so the staff there can give the right antivenom, if necessary.
Catching a snake attack on film is likely not what the creators of video doorbells had in mind, but it’s just one of a slew of strange incidents that people have captured, including more than one person licking doorbells.
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