VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Amy Rivers and her daughter Bella were about to enjoy an afternoon in their backyard while their dog took a dip in the pool. That was until Bella screamed there was a snake.
The Rivers family has lived in their Great Neck home for six years and this was their first time seeing a snake. Their home does back up to a wooded area but Amy didn't think they would find a copperhead snake in their backyard.
"Honestly, the thing that freaks me out the most was where the snake was sitting. It's exactly where 90 percent of the time the dog, kids and I come down the steps. So the fact that that one time we didn't come down and step directly on it was pretty amazing," said Amy.
Animal Control and the Dept. of Game and Inland Fisheries won't remove snakes if they are alive and outside of the home, even if they are venomous. They prefer for people who encounter snakes outside to leave them be. It's illegal to kill snakes in a cruel way, such as stabbing it to death instead of a quicker death.
Amy said she wasn't particularly scared of the snake, but knew she wanted it gone.
We've caught rattlesnakes because we didn't want to kill them. So we wanted to make sure somebody would catch her and take her. It's not her fault she's a venomous snake," said Amy.
Here's what you can do. Animal experts highly recommend leaving the snake alone saying it will eventually move on. Avoid interacting with the snake in any way. And if you really want the venomous snake gone you can hire a licensed snake removal business, which is what Amy did.
"Keep your eyes on it. Once we get there we will physically move and rehome the snake from there," said JB Bean from Zoopro Animal Removal.
Getting calls similar to the one Amy made is something reptile lovers such as Bean loves.
"It doesn't have to be killed so we love when somebody says 'hey please come and get the animal,'" said Bean.
