Tales from the Hiss: KVAL's best local snake stories
EUGENE, Ore. - A snake in a dishwasher?!
Within an hour of the post on YouNews, a producer from CNN was on the phone with KVAL.com trying to track down YouNews reporter debrattt.
The story went viral online, and Kelly Koopmans from KVAL News visited the home where the snake caused some slithery fright and the Oregon State University snake lab on Wednesday for a full report.
In honor this story, the KVAL.com crew combed the archives for some of our best local snake stories of recent years.
- A police officer saved a pet store owner from a python
- A teen with a learner's permit ran over a python
- A red boa named "Baby Elizabeth" got loose on a city bike path
You get the idea. If you're not squeemish about snakes, take a look:
Python grabs pet store owner
Teresa Rossiter never imagined the life of a pet store owner could be so dangerous.
"Sometimes it's quiet here, and I'll be over there dancing with the dogs," Rossiter told KVAL News in 2008.
Rossiter expected her afternoon at Best Friends pet shop to be just like any other. Customers stopped in, and as usual Darla the Burmese python was the center of attention.
"We were talking about the snakes and I said, 'Yea she's really a nice girl. My cousin says she's evil, but she's not.' And I went to reach into the cage to grab her head, and she grabbed first," said Rossiter.
Her call for help was answered.
"I overheard a call getting dispatched and I thought I heard it correctly, but I wasn't quite sure. It said that a female employee, uh well, a snake had half of her arm in its mouth," said Sgt. Ryan Nelson of the Eugene Police Department.
Nelson couldn't believe his ears - or his eyes - once he got to the pet store. >>> More on this story
'Don't stick your finger in their mouth'
The summer sun brings Oregonians outdoors - and brings snakes outside, too.
In a 2010 special series called Stings and Creepy Crawly Things, KVAL News took a look at common snakes of Western Oregon.
Home sssssweet home:
Python owner claims snake
Before Kyle Purdy even took his driving test in 2009, he passed a challenge most drivers never face: What do you do if you run over a 10-foot python?
Police captured the snake, and the search started for the snake's owner.
Lane County Animal Services cared for the critter in the meantime. >>> More on this story
Baby Elizabeth, come home!
In 2008, a red boa named Baby Elizabeth slithered out of the second story window in West Eugene.
Her disappearance sparked a search party and fliers posted along the Fern Ridge Trail and at Grant and Chambers on nearby 15th Avenue with two words you never want to hear together: missing and snake.
Oregon National Guard:
'I was hoping to eat snake meat'
Training with the Oregon National Guard in Oklahoma at Fort Sill en route to Iraq in 2009, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Scott Anderson volunteered to get closer to a snake at the Fort Apache Rattlesnake Feed.
"You know these are like a ticking time bomb,” said fangmaster Ron Orf placing the snake around Anderson’s neck, which solicited yells from the crowd.
For several hours, soldiers ate funnel cake and wandered around the festival grounds.
“I was hoping to eat snake meat,” said Sgt. Trent Grimm, who instead settled for a hotdog.
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