Overview
- A Maumelle High School player wore a helmet with a roughly two-foot cottonmouth inside for about an hour during practice Thursday, Aug. 6, before he felt movement and brought the helmet to coaches for inspection.
- Coaches secured the helmet in a tote bag and Maumelle Animal Services officers poured water into the padding to coax the snake out before capturing and relocating it to a wooded/river area away from the school.
- The student was not bitten or injured, was given a different helmet and resumed practice after the snake was removed.
- Officials initially received a report the snake might be a copperhead but Maumelle Animal Services identified it as a cottonmouth, a venomous water moccasin native to Arkansas that often hides in dark, enclosed spaces like helmets.
- The Maumelle Animal Shelter and school urged athletes and the public to check helmets, shoes and other outdoor gear before use and said the team will reinforce routine pre-use equipment inspections to prevent similar encounters.