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Couple find 18 snakes under their bed as they are about to go to sleep in Georgia

A couple in Georgia have described the moment they found at least 18 snakes under their bed while they were getting ready to go to sleep on Sunday night.

Trish and Max Wilcher, residents of Georgia’s Augusta city, placed each snake in a linen bag with the help of a grabber tool and successfully released them at a nearby creek.

Ms Wilcher said she found something moving on the floor under her bed at their home in the city’s Tanglewood area. “Before going to bed, I spotted what I thought was a piece of fuzz on the floor, went to reach for it and it moved,” she told local news channel WJBF-TV.

A second later, another piece moved, she said. “And I went to my husband, (and said) ‘we have snakes!’”

They soon counted at least 18 snakes there: one mother snake and 17 recently hatched babies.

The Wilchers didn’t want to harm them, despite the shock. Mr Wilcher, using a grabber tool, put each serpent in a linen bag. “The entire ordeal took until around midnight,” Ms Wilcher said.

The couple also called a wildlife catcher to help find whether their house had any more snakes or snake babies.

Ms Wilcher added: “He brought them out there to the creek area and released them there.” The snakes are now near Rae’s Creek in Augusta.

If you have a mouse problem, the snakes are going to come and try to help you with that,” said Camilla Sherman, an environmental educator for the Phinizy Centre for Water Sciences based in Augusta.

She said one way to keep snakes away was to rid your home of rodents.

However, she warned that this isn’t a foolproof system, particularly during summer when they are most likely to move around and enter homes. “In the winter when it’s cold, they slow down because their body is not able to produce heat like ours is. So, in the summertime, they have got plenty of heat. They are a lot more active, so you’re more likely to see them,” Ms Sherman said.

But there is no need to worry, she added. Snakes in Georgia “are more than likely non-venomous”.

Terminix Wildlife, a local pest control organisation, told WJBF-TV they had indeed seen an increase in snake calls. They were taking “five to 10 per week”, branch manager John Blythe said.

“If you give them a way out, they’re going to take it. They’re not going to chase you,” Ms Sherman said.

One way to identify a venomous snake is by the shape of its head, she said. Dangerous snakes are likely to have a triangular head due to their venom sacs, and thin, black, vertical pupils like cats’ eyes.

“I am struggling to move about the house much less sit down anywhere!!! I may need a cardiologist after this !!!” Ms Wilcher wrote on her Facebook after the incident.

One user commented on her post: “Dear God woman! I’m trying to stop smoking! You’re not helping.”

“While I’m sure it was quite the shocker, thank you so much for not killing them,” said another user. 

Reference: Independent: Maroosha Muzaffar