Snake on car hood in Tennessee caught on video in Lebanon
A family filmed a roughly 5-foot snake crossing their moving car’s hood in Lebanon, likely a nonvenomous gray rat snake.
By Bianca Rossi · Entertainment Editor
2 min read
A snake on a car hood in Tennessee gave one Lebanon family a ride they did not plan for. Analissa Hensley filmed the animal sliding across the hood as her family drove along Callis Road, according to WKRN News 2.
Hensley said they were headed to Mount Juliet to pick up soccer items for her youngest daughter when her husband spotted the snake. She began recording as it moved across the front of the vehicle toward her side.
Hensley estimated the snake was about 5 feet long. The family tried to pull over, she told WKRN, but the snake went off the side before the car came to a stop. WKRN News 2’s video report, published Aug. 13, shows the encounter and includes the family’s account.
What kind of snake was on the car hood in Lebanon?
Mallory Tate, a biodiversity biologist with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, told WKRN that markings visible in the footage were consistent with a gray rat snake. That is a qualified assessment from the video, rather than a confirmed identification of the individual snake.
Tate said gray rat snakes are common in Tennessee and nonvenomous. She also said they are not dangerous to people, children, pets or livestock when given space.
UPI separately reported Aug. 14 that Tate identified the snake as appearing to be a gray rat snake and that the family had attempted to pull over before it left the vehicle.
Why might a gray rat snake get into a car?
Tate said gray rat snakes found in cars may be there because prey are using the vehicle. That can include birds building nests, often Carolina wrens, or mice. She said the snakes have strong scent detection, which is also why they can be found near bird nests, chicken coops and mice.
The advice from Tate: check vehicles for bird or mouse nests, keep cars cleaned out and avoid woodpiles near the house. If a snake does appear, give it space, she said.
For Hensley’s family, the uninvited passenger was gone before their roadside stop. The short video now captures the moment it surfaced from the hood and made its way across the moving car.
This story draws on original reporting from UPI.