Snake found in moving truck in Evansville
A southern Indiana couple found a large snake in the cab of their moving truck on Sunday, August 4.
EVANSVILLE – There’s a snake in your truck, the U-Haul employee said.
At first, Andi Waters was like Bull. How often do you pull up to a moving truck and find a snake inside? If ever, it’s nothing more than a small, garden-sized reptile.
Still, she saw how frightened the employee looked — “white as a ghost,” she said — so she ventured into the U-Haul office on Evansville’s south side on Sunday and found an umbrella, figuring she’d unhook the thing and watch it scurry away.
Then she heard her husband scream.
“I’ll never forget the sound,” she said Tuesday, barely able to get the words out as she laughed. “He said: it is not a small snake!”
A huge brown and black snake, which Waters said was at least six feet long, was curled up under the passenger seat of her U-Haul. In videos she posted on TikTok and Facebook over the weekend, you can see her massive body stacked on top of each other like a thick copper wire. She didn’t even know how she was able to fit under there.
They called Evansville Animal Control, but it was closed. And with temperatures in the car hovering around 120 degrees Fahrenheit, they knew they had no choice. For the sake of the animal, they had to get the snake out themselves.
What followed were some of the most unforgettable moments in her and her husband Shaun’s lives – and they turned out quite differently than expected when they agreed to help Andi’s sister move into a new apartment.
Thanks to a lot of courage and a plastic box with a lid, they managed to pull the snake out safely and hand it over to an animal catcher who came to the scene of the accident after calling the emergency center.
According to Todd Robertson, the Evansville Department of Transportation director who also oversees animal control, the snake belonged to the family who had previously rented the truck. They took their pet home on Tuesday.
“They were actually looking for it and were grateful that we called them,” he said. “Because they didn’t know exactly what happened.”
Andi called it “wonderful news.”
“I hope he or she can live a happy snake life,” she said.
“Get the bucket! Get the bucket!”
There was no guarantee that this picture-perfect ending would take place on Sunday.
Andi initially approached the truck with the umbrella and a small bucket. However, when she saw the size of the thing, she knew that wouldn’t work, so the employee grabbed a large plastic box: the kind you’d use to store blankets in the garage.
Then, Andi said, the employee went inside. U-Haul did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
The authorities were also unable to help immediately. The emergency managers said they could send an animal rights activist to the scene of the accident, but he would first have to get his car and fill it up with gas.
That presented them with a difficult decision. Although herpetological societies warn against touching snakes at all – especially if they are poisonous or have a risk of biting – they can also overheat and die in extreme temperatures. And Sunday’s sweltering temperatures were certainly conducive to that.
“So I’m in there trying like an idiot to hook this snake,” she said. “Eventually we get to the point where we realize we’re not going to hook it with this umbrella. We just have to grab it.”
Since Andi was already in the taxi, she tried first. In a Facebook Live video she posted on Sunday, the snake can be seen retreating to the far corner of the passenger side and winding itself behind what looks like a red toolbox.
“That’s stupid,” says Andi, reaching her hand down.hello baby.”
Finally, she grabbed it around the middle. It pulled back a little, and the force of its pull made her realize that she wasn’t strong enough to complete the mission. Shaun would have to do it.
But there was a problem: “My husband is terrified of snakes,” said Andi.
Nevertheless, he continued to struggle forward and, “with minimal shouting,” they managed to pull him out of the cab.
“Then this thing is simply unfoldssaid Andi. “It’s just one foot after another, one foot after another, a snake. It hits the floor from the inside of the bed, from where he’s holding it to his chest, and he’s like get the bucket! get the bucket!”
He hurried and moved carefully at the same time, dropped the snake into the carrying bag and Andi opened the lid.
And then animal control showed up. Apparently someone hadn’t reported the snake’s size, because the officer showed up with an empty litter box and a grabber so small it reminded Andi of the dinosaurs she used to play with as a child.
Still, they were able to give the snake some water. She said she remained calm until animal control gave her a light pinch to make sure she didn’t collapse from dehydration.
“Then the snake hissed. I don’t know if it was because it was in that plastic tub, but it was just this horrible, echoing growl,” she said. “I swear to God, the hairs on my head stood on end. Now they stand on end just remembering it.”
Two days later, she was back in her familiar surroundings. Andi said she would like to see the snake again. They spent a lot of time together and she liked her. She even gave her a temporary name: U-Haul.
“I’m very glad we found it before we left,” she said. “We could have been in the middle of nowhere and it would have jumped out. That wouldn’t have worked out so well.”
